


Genius

by KingCrowleysLittlePet_666



Series: The Walking Dead Oneshots/Stories [6]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hospitals, I Blame Tumblr, Science, Stitches, Surgery, genius, injuries, wound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-02-26 08:30:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13231950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingCrowleysLittlePet_666/pseuds/KingCrowleysLittlePet_666
Summary: You, the reader, have been given the title of 'genius' even before the apocalypse started. Ever since the dead began to roam, you have been on your own. However, when the Alexandria group appears and offers an alliance against the Saviors, you have some terms and conditions. Is Rick's group willing to follow them in order to gain access to your knowledge or will this plan backfire in every way, shape, and form?





	1. A New Beginning

It was hard being smart, practically a genius - especially before the world went to hell. You were expected to get perfect grades, do other peoples’ work for them, and become the next Albert Einstein. It was exhausting and difficult to have everyone making goals for you, but since the start of the apocalypse, you actually used your knowledge to your advantage to build your survival skills. That was why you didn’t need a group. You went by yourself. Trust no one. Accept no one.

That day, you decided to leave the comfort of your new home to go on a supply run at a building a couple miles from where you were stationed. The strip mall was small and barely had any supplies in it, but from the last trip you made there, there was still a small amount of supplies left in the far side of the strip. So, that was your destination. Armed with your SUV - which you had taught yourself to drive the first time you discovered it - a pistol, and a couple of knives in different places on your body - two in your thigh and one in your jacket pocket - you drove to the strip and parked behind it. You turned off the vehicle and got out. You opened the back door and grabbed a small duffel bag. Afterwards, you closed the door, locked the car, and prepared to move into the building. 

There was a small door near the location that you parked. That doorway led to the small space that held the only supplies that you hoped weren’t picked up by other survivors. The supplies weren’t anything major. Just some canned food and some bottles of medicine that became quite crucial to survival ever since the start of the apocalypse. In that time, you could never have too much food. 

You grabbed the knife that rested itself in your inner jacket pocket and held onto it tightly, mentally preparing yourself for anything. From the door in the back, you entered a small office in the back of the small building. The place was neat, but it still had the smell of death that had soaked into the surface. You cringed once and held your nose. The smell of rotten flesh was one that a person could never actually get used to. It still made your stomach twist and turn and the food in you consider escaping from it. 

You hummed and looked around. You kept the knife in your hand and made sure that your muscles were loose. There were several boxes near the far side of the office. You walked over and opened them. You looked inside. The boxes were just filled with sugar packets. 

“Sugar?” You questioned to no one in particular. You stood up and decided to leave the office and go further into the building. You had your knife ready as you opened the door and looked around the empty building.

The place was smaller than you thought and it sure didn’t  _ look _ like a store, more like a cafe. It was eerily quiet and completely empty. At least that was what it looked like. You still took your time to look around the small building. The tables and chairs were thrown around the lobby and the floor was completely spotless. There was a door next to the cash register and you hummed. With your knife at the ready, you walked over to the the door and jiggled the doorknob. It was locked. 

Strange. You never found a locked door in all of your time searching that didn’t result in a hidden walker behind the door. You decided to risk it, so you took your knife and began to try and turn the lock on the door. It slipped several times and at other moments, you were just so close that it was almost frustrating. Finally, after a while, you got it unlocked. With a victorious smile, you opened up the door extremely slow like. 

It was a small room. The smell of it wasn’t anywhere close to the smell of rotting flesh. It actually smelt like...a pantry? You walked in slowly, leaving the door open. There were boxes here and packages there. You decided to look inside the closest box that was there. When you opened it, you smiled. Inside were a bunch of loaves of bread. 

Victory. 

In that pantry were breads, bagels, small boxes of jams and jellies, and even more sugar packets. So, it was then that you began to take all of the boxes and packages out to the car. You set them all in the back of the SUV. It took about five minutes to get every single box out to the car. Once you did so, successfully, you closed the doors to the buildings. You were getting ready to get into the vehicle, when you heard the familiar cock of a gun from behind you. You cursed under you breath slightly and turned around to look and see who it was. 

It was a boy with a shotgun pointed directly at your face. He had long brown hair that scooped over his face, covering a bandage that covered up half of his face. You would be lying to yourself if you would say that you didn’t think he was slightly handsome, despite the fact that you were being held at gunpoint. 

“Who are you?” The boy asked with a strong, deep voice. 

Your fear level had risen. That was the main reason that you didn’t go out on any type of mission - at least you didn’t like to. With the world the way it was, you had to be careful with who you could trust and who you couldn’t. Apparently the boy - who was slightly taller than you - seemed like the type to not trust easily. Your heart was pounding in your chest as he asked his question again. You ignored it once more, too scared to speak. It was supposed to go well, the run. Of course, you would have to make another close call. You were tired of those. Sick and fucking tired of them. With one swift action, you were able to kick the boy onto the ground and get into the car without any complications. You started the vehicle and drove off, hearing the gunshots from behind you as you drove. You yelped in fear and ducked. Thankfully, none of the bullets hit you nor the tires, although they hit the back of the car. Once you got a good distance away from the strip mall, you sighed in relief, a smile on your face. 

* * *

 

The ride to your base was quieter than it was leaving the strip. Your base was a large hospital that was abandoned when you got there so you decided to make it your home. The top six floors belonged to you and you had your own special way to get there. You pulled your car into the parking garage - which you had blocked up and set up a digital password in order for a gate to be unlocked - that was connected to the hospital building and parked at the roof of the parking garage, near the door of the hospital. You opened the door of the building and propped it open with a box from the car. You then started to bring the boxes from the car to the building. Once you got all of the boxes and packages into the building - down the stairs and to the nearest storage room - you took the box that was holding open the door and closed it. You took the box down to the supply room. 

The top six floors of the hospital were closed out from the rest of the building so that the walkers couldn’t get to your safe places. On the first of the six floors were just some beds, spare pillows and blankets as well. The second floor was where the storage began. On that floor was your weapon cache. They were all separated into different rooms - knives and other blades in one same room, pistols in another, shotguns in another, rifles in another, and throwables like grenades and flares in the last one. The third floor was where you kept most of your valuables - items that were not necessarily important to your survival, but just some that you had found when you went on runs, like purses, clothes, some make-up, and paintings. The fourth floor was where you kept all of the science equipment that you had found in the hospital and that you found on runs. The fifth floor was where you lounged and watched movies on DVD and VHS. You also had a small library in that room that was filled with books and board games. Finally, the top floor was where you kept your food, cooked - after lugging a fridge, stove, and a sink up there and taking your time to hook them up - and slept. So you went into the ‘kitchen’ and put all of the boxes at the bottom of a pantry.

You frowned when you saw a hole in the side of one of the boxes. “Fuck.” You cursed as you opened it up. Sure enough, some of the loaves of bread had bullet shards in them. You cursed louder and took out all of the bread. You threw all of the bread in a separate box and figured you might as well use it for hunting at some point. You grabbed a marker and wrote, ‘ Hunting ’ on the side of it. You then placed it on top of the fridge, facing the lettering outwards. It was then that you began to look around in the pantry, keeping inventory, adding the sugar and bread to the list of items that you had. 

All of a sudden, there was a small alarm that went off in the kitchen for several seconds before it turned off. You furrowed your brows and went to the main kitchen area. There was a small monitor next to the sink. The monitor went to a camera that you hooked up to show when someone or something gets anywhere near the gate. In the camera, there were two vehicles. One of them was a motorcycle and the other one was a 2010 Toyota Highlander. Four people were in view. The boy was one of them - the one that put a damn gun to your face - as well as two men and one woman. 

One of the men were lighter skin with a beard that seemed to be starting to show as well as short hair. He held a revolver in his hand. The other male that was there had longer hair and it was very hard to see his facial features but you could see that he was carrying a very nice looking crossbow. Then the woman had dark skin. She showed a lot of skin and had dreadlocks in her hair. She had two swords on her back. 

When you saw the group walking towards the openings of the parking garage, you pressed a small button for the intercom. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” You said. The group jumped back. They spoke, but you couldn’t hear it. You rolled your eyes. “Just stay right there.” You said and stood up straight. 

You left your kitchen, grabbed the keys to your SUV, and walked out to the top of the parking garage. You looked down at the vehicles that were below before you hurried and got into your car. You drove back down the endless - it seemed - ramps of the garage. When you got to the bottom of the structure, you saw them point the guns at the vehicle. You sighed, parked, and got out. You walked close to them, near the side of the door, but not leaning close enough to poke your head out. 

“Who are you?” The man with the short hair and revolver asked you. 

“My name’s (Y/N). You’re lucky you didn’t try to climb in through the sides. You could have severely injured yourself.” You told them. 

“What are you-?” 

“I’m referring to the microblades that I planted on rather thin pieces of wire and made rows of at every opening in this place.” You leaned to the side just slightly so that you could see the outline of a small line that reflected in the midday sun. “It’s made of carbon steel. Not the most durable material, but it’s the best thing that I could find. And it withstands an attack from one of the infected.” You poked a thin wire and flinched at the pain. You pulled back a bloody finger and showed it to the group. You wiped the blood away. “Now…” You trailed. “How may I help you?” 

“My name’s Rick. Rick Grimes.” The man told you. “Where is the rest of your group?” 

“Why do you assume that I have a group? You think that because I’m small and young that automatically makes me incapable of taking care of myself?” You questioned. 

“I didn’t mean-” 

“I know what you meant. I have no other group. I’m pretty sure that, if they saw two random vehicles approaching their base, they would attack or take hostages. I, however, take the more appropriate and gentle approach. I keep myself rather quiet unless someone were to approach my doors and attempt to open them, which you will, no matter what, be unsuccessful. This is a code activated door.” You told Rick. “Besides that, is there any particular reason that you would be asking me about a possible group other than the obvious?” 

“Well,” Rick said and stepped closer. “My group and I, we’re from Alexandria. We have been searching for groups that could be capable of helping us take down the Saviors. Do you know them?” 

“Know  _ of _ them? Yes. I have no personal connection with those pansies, nor do I wish to have one anytime soon. Negan’s methods, as I have heard, are rather...extreme and egotistical.” 

“Right. The Saviors have to be taken down. They killed our friends. Our  _ family _ .” 

“And you think that revenge is the best option?” 

“I got a little girl back at our camp. I can’t risk anything happening to her.” 

You raised your brows. He  _ did _ look like a father figure now that you had the time to look at his face. A worried father figure. It was then that you took the time to look at the female in the group. She, too, had that parental look in her eyes. She also had a look of determination in her eyes and concentration. You then looked at the other man. His hair was still in the way of his eyes - a simple sign of someone being rather sketchy or skeptical. His stance was careful and solid. Then, you looked at that damn boy. Asshole. You already had a close up of his face and immediately looked away from him and back at Rick. 

“She’s just a kid.” The other man said, leaning close to Rick.

“I’m sorry,” You said and crossed your arms. “But who are you?” 

The man looked at you. “Daryl.” He said in a deep, gruff voice. 

“Well, Daryl, I am overjoyed to inform you that, even though I may be young and young is associated with a low knowledge rank of any type of helpful survival skills, I have been able to keep myself alive, and only myself, for the years that this plague has been active.” You said. “So me being ‘just a kid’ is highly relevant to the situation.” 

Daryl took a step closer to you - the garage - but he said nothing. There was a part of you that figured that he did wish to call you out and insult you, but another section of your brain was convinced he said all that he had to said. You were the one that looked away from him and back at Rick. 

“So you’re wanting to converse with me about some sort of partnership? I can do that.” You said. “But please, first, introduce the rest of your current group so that we’re no longer strangers.” 

Rick looked at the woman and the boy. “This is Michonne.” He pointed to the woman, who gave a small nod towards you. “And this is my son, Carl.” He pointed to the boy. 

You raised your brows. “Your son? I would have never guessed.” 

“Why do you say that?” He asked. 

“You seem rather nice, whereas the first time I came in contact with  _ Carl _ , he had a gun pointed at my head. At the strip mall. He saw that I was there and decided to hold me at gunpoint.” 

Rick looked at Carl. “You never told me that.” He mumbled. 

“I bet he didn’t.” You said. “Aside from that, I would like to make an offer to help your group. You will need someone to come in and look at my base.” You said. “And the only way that that is going to happen is if it’s the kid. No weapons.” 

“No weapons?” Rick questioned and sighed as he looked down. “No, I need to come in.” 

“Either the kid or no deal.” You told Rick. “And I have nothing to gain from killing him, as I am almost certain you are thinking. I have no idea where you guys are located, nor do I want to know until we set up some form of agreement. Give me about fifteen minutes with the kid and then we will talk.” 

Rick looked at Carl. “It’s okay Dad.” Carl told him and handed his weapon to his father. “I’ll go in.” 

Rick sighed and looked at the gun and then at you. “If you hurt him-” 

“You’ll kill me, I understand.” You said and walked over to the keypad on the far side of the garage. You typed in 3583. The exact number of times you have typed in the code. It was set to change and go up one number each time that you put it in correctly. The large, metal doors slowly began to open up upon command. You stood in the middle of the open doors with a cocked hip. 

Once the doors finally opened up all the way, you gestured towards your SUV. Carl took one last look back at his group and then walked through the doors. After he went through, you walked over to the keypad and pressed the automatic button to have the doors close. You then walked over to the car, unlocked the passenger’s side door, and got in. Carl got in soon afterwards and glanced at you and then at the floor of the car. 

You started the car, made a U-turn, and then made your way back up to the roof of the garage. The two of you were silent the entire drive. You stared ahead and he looked out the window, at the floor, and sometimes at you. When you reached the top of the garage, you parked in the exact same spot that you had - it was a sort of habit that you had forced yourself to form just in case you were to find yourself some more vehicles. 

You got out of the car and closed the door. You waited for Carl to get out as well. He walked over to you. Before you got a chance to make your way towards the house, he spoke. 

“Where did you learn how to drive?” He questioned you. “Did someone help you?” 

You turned back to him and shook your head. “No,” you responded. “When you have enough space on the empty roads, it opens up a good time to practice. The first couple of months I spent walking before I found this place.” You gestured to the building behind you with your thumb. “Then I found my vehicle and practiced. I started cautiously up here and then started to take her on scavenges. Pain in the ass to get back though.” You patted the back of the SUV. “Come on. You first.” 

Without another word, Carl walked past you and towards the door. He opened it and walked in, afterwards, you did as well. You closed the door behind you. With a gentle hand pressed against Carl’s back - at which he tensed at - you led him to the floor you would like to call the Leisure Level. 

“Right here,” You said and gestured towards the library. “We can talk in here.” 

Carl looked back at you and then walked into the room. He looked around. “It’s a nice setup you got here.” He told you and sat down on one of the couches. 

A smile appeared on your face at the compliment. “Thank you.” You said to him and sat down on the opposite couch. “It took me awhile to get it this far. I still have a couple floors below us that are clear and in use.” 

Carl raised his brow. “Really? More floors.” 

You nodded. “Yes.” You told him. “But, that aside, let’s talk about this teamwork that your father was referring to.” You pushed your hair behind your ear. “First of all, tell me what happened between you and Negan.” 

Carl looked down and then at you. “He killed our family. A man named Glenn and another man named Abraham.” Carl said. “When he did, he took Daryl as well, but he escaped.” 

“He escaped? I have to give him credit for that. Negan has a lot of men and if he was able to escape, that means that they aren’t as strong as I thought.” You mumbled to yourself. You shook your head. “I’m sorry for what happened to you and your group, but, if you don’t mind me asking: what happened to your eye? Or….face?” 

Carl placed a hand over the bandage and looked down. “I got shot.” 

“And survived? Extraordinary. Lucky too.” You said. “Again, I’m sorry for the unfortunate set of events. I would like to join you and your group in taking down the Saviors. I, of course, will have some standards that I would like to have.” 

“Like what?” 

“Like the fact that I cannot leave this place.” You said. “This place is my home and I have all of my work here. I don’t think it’s safe for it to be moved. I can provide weapons though, food, and medication. Not all of it, just some. And, maybe, you could possibly provide me with supplies as well. I wouldn’t be needing food or weapons, I have all of those. I would need chemicals that you could possibly fine. Metals would also work.” 

“Why do you need those?” 

“This place could always be reinforced. I could also show you some ways that you can fortify your own camp.” 

“Really? That would be awesome. How did you find all of this out anyway?” 

“Experimentation, mostly. However, my knowledge on historical tanks and weapons have assisted as well.” Carl gave you a simple nod. “So,” you continued. “If you are willing to agree to my conditions, then I am able to help you.” 

Carl looked around, as if to find his father, before looking back at you, straight into your eyes. “Yeah.” He said. “Let’s do it.” 

You smiled. “Alright. Come with me and we will call your family up. I will finalize it with your father.” You stood up and gestured towards the door. “Upstairs, follow me.” You said and walked out of the room. 

Without looking back, you could hear Carl stand up and follow after you. You walked up the stairs and back to the kitchen. You looked at the security camera and saw Rick conversing with the two other people in his group. You pressed the intercom button and spoke into it. You could feel Carl’s presence behind you. 

“Rick, you may come in.” You said. Rick jumped and looked around. “Get in your vehicle, go over, and type in the code 3584. Afterwards, drive up to the top of the parking garage. Me and your son will be waiting at the top for you. Again, the code is 3584.” 

You stood back and left the kitchen with Carl following your wordlessly. You walked up the stairs to the top of the parking garage and opened the door. It didn’t take long for you to see the car that Rick drove and the motorcycle that Daryl had appear. Now that you thought about it, Daryl did look the type that would own a motorcycle. They parked the cars next to you. 

Rick got out, and then Michonne. Daryl turned off his bike and walked to you. You stood as tall as you could, looking at them. Your gaze moved towards Rick. 

“I have decided to help.” You said. “But, like I told Carl, there are going to be some conditions that I would love to discuss with you.” 

Rick looked at Carl and then back at you. “Alright. What are the conditions?” 

“Well, why don’t we talk about it over some drinks. It would be rather rude of me not to offer you any. You, after all, have been kind to me this far.” 

“We don’t want to stay long.” 

“I insist.” You said. “Plus, I could show you my home. But, please, leave all weapons out here. I don’t wanna risk it.” 

Rick looked at his other group members before he nodded. He walked to the car, opened up the back door and began to put his weapons into the back seat. Michonne followed, placing her sword in the back as well. Daryl then went, setting his crossbow in the back before turning to Rick and Michonne and you. 

With a nod, you opened the door and gestured inside. Carl went first and then the group followed. You walked down to the kitchen and gestured for them to sit down at the dining table. You nodded. 

“Would you like some coffee?” You asked them. 

Michonne denied a beverage and so did Daryl. Rick turned down the coffee, but asked for some water. Carl did too. Once the drinks were set down, you grabbed another chair and pulled it back. You sat at the head of the table. 

“So,” you said. 

“So.” Rick said after he drank. “What are you conditions.” 

“My conditions are that I stay here. I have so much work that I have done here with fortification and other scientific aspects that it would be a huge shame to waste my hard work like that, especially considering the length of time that it took to complete my research.” 

“What is your research?” Michonne asked. 

You looked towards her and shook your head. “I will get to that in a minute, but right now I would like to discuss my conditions.” Michonne nodded. “Aside from me staying here, I will be willing to give your group small amounts of weapons, medications, food as well, but I ask for some supplies in return. And I’m not talking about the ones that I’ve mentioned, but I really, really need any type of metals that you could find or chemicals even. Nevermind what they are for, let’s just say that I have ideas for some weapons.” 

“Weapons? What kind of weapons?” 

“If our relationship grows, I will let you in on that secret.” You said. 

Rick raised his brows and nodded. “We can work with those conditions.” He said. 

“Good.” You said and stood up. “Now, if you would like me to lead you down to the library, I have a map in there. I would like you to show me where you are camped out so that we can meet up.” 

“Alright.” Rick said and stood up. Everyone else did as well. 

You began to lead them down to the stairs to the library. In that room, there was a table in the corner with a map and the board games on them. You took the board games and set them on the ground. You grabbed the map and unrolled it. You placed a board game at each corner of the map to keep it from rolling back up. 

“Please show me.” You said. 

Rick leaned over the table, pressing the palm of his hands against the table, his eyes roaming around the map of the area. His tongue ran over his bottom lip before he pointed to the location where their camp was. 

“Alexandria, huh?” You questioned and nodded. You looked around. You grabbed a pen and circled it. “Thank you.” You said and held out your hand to Rick. 

Rick took your hand and shook it. “Thank you.” He said. “For this.” 

“You’re welcome Rick. Now, it’s getting late, you might as well get back to Alexandria. You’ll make it before nightfall.” 

Rick nodded. “Right, right. Is there any way that we can communicate with you?” 

You hummed and bit your lip. “Not as of now, but if you ever need my help, just come on back. If I’m here, you just have to show up at the gate. A small alarm will warn me about a presence. Then I will let you in by telling you the password. Just so you know, if you are going to bring anyone else here, you gotta be here too, or one of them,” You pointed to the group. “So that I have someone who can vouch for them.” 

“Will do.” Rick said and let his hand fall at his side. 

“And if you or your group members have to stay the night anywhere, you can go ahead and come to me. I have extra beds down a couple of floors.” 

Rick smiled lightly. “I appreciate it. We all appreciate it.” He said. 

“Well, you’re welcome Rick.” You said. “Let me lead you outside.” 

Rick gave you another nod as you walked up the stairs until you got to the roof. Rick and the rest of them walked to their cars. “To get out,” you began. “You need to type in 3585. It changes each time it is put in correctly.” 

“That’s smart.” 

You smiled and blushed. You rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks.” You told him. 

Rick nodded and got in the car. Everyone else did as well. A smile was on your face as you watched them leave the top of the parking garage. You walked over to the side of the garage’s concrete walls and watched. It wasn’t long before the cars drove out and away. 

You knew, from that day, that it was going to be the start of a strange, strong, and dangerous alliance. 


	2. Time to Show Your Skills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader has been an ally with the group at Alexandria for some time now, and they have all gotten well acquainted. However, after an accident when Rick, Daryl, and Carl are out on a supply run, the reader must show her skills and adaptation to different scenarios when she has to clean up Rick's wounds.

It had been months since the start of your alliance with Rick’s group at Alexandria. The word alliance felt so strange on your mind and on your tongue. The term was just so foreign to you, but within the months that you have been assisting the group with their findings and reinforcements and, in return, they gave you supplies that you needed. There have been more people that you met with each time that you arrived at Alexandria. They seemed to welcome you just as soon as they figured out that not only Daryl, Carl, and Michonne trusted you, but Rick did as well. They respected that and they were glad to have you a part of their group. 

However, you’ve gotten quite lonely ever since you have had constant contact with kind people. So whenever you got back to the hospital, you craved being around people, but you knew you couldn’t leave your hospital. You couldn’t leave your research. You were just too close to the truth. 

It wasn’t entirely lonely. You had a walkie-talkie that you started awkward conversations on with whoever had the talkie at the time. Most of the time the talks were about items that you needed and what they needed. 

It was rather early in the morning, about five o’clock. The sun hadn’t even come up yet and the hospital had that eerie feeling to it with only artificial lighting that made your atmosphere something that came right out of a horror film. You were in the kitchen, yawning, dressing in nothing but an oversized tee and gigantic sweatpants. You started the coffee maker. Normally, you wouldn’t drink that nasty stuff, but you pulled an all-nighter and needed something to wake you up. 

Your eyes were closed as you heard the dripping from the machine. It soothed you and made you want to go back to sleep. You stayed strong, though, staying on your feet - barely. The cup finished in no time and you were thankful for it. When you grabbed the coffee mug, your body shook, the warmth sending chills down your spine. You smiled and sat down at the small table, closing your eyes and drinking the strong liquid. 

You didn’t even get to finish one-fourth of the cup before the walkie-talkie began to talk. 

“(Y/N)! (Y/N)! (Y/N)!” Daryl’s voice came over the walkie. You jumped up, stumbling to the floor, spilling your coffee. 

“Fuck!” You screaming as the scalding liquid burnt your skin. 

“What’s the password! What’s the password!?” Daryl shouted. 

You hurried up on your feet, despite the pain shooting through your hand, and grabbed the device. “What!?” You shouted in a tired voice. “What’s wrong?” 

“Rick’s been hurt! What’s the damn password.” 

“3687.” You said. “What happened?’ 

“I’ll explain it when we get there.” He said. “Two minutes out.” 

“Alright, I’ll get prepped.” You told him before you ran out of the kitchen, your pants falling down in the process. You cursed and kicked them off as you ran to your room and quickly dressed in jean shorts and a tank top - one of the sloppy ones because, by the sound of it, you were going to be getting dirty. You put on socks and boots. 

You then ran downstairs to the operating room. It was clean and smelled like Bleach and other various cleaning products. You searched your cabinets and grabbed out all the medical tools that you may need: scalpel, bandages, disinfectant, needle, and thread just in case you needed to stitch something up, and a couple of pillows and a heart monitor that you could hook up to Rick when he got there. By the way Daryl sounded over the walkie, it was rather bad. You secretly hoped that they wouldn’t crowd you just in case there were people other than just Rick and Daryl. After you got all of the items that you needed for any type of situation, you ran out of the room and went outside.

The sound of the screeching of tires reached your ears and, by the looks of it, Daryl was on his way. You could see the car zooming towards the hospital from the top of the parking unit. 

“What was the password?” He asked again. 

“3687.” You repeated to him and stared down at the car. You noticed Daryl rapidly get out of the car and type in the code. He then ran back to the car. From the spot you were in, you thought that you could see the silhouette of an individual in the front seat. That was either Rick or another passenger. You would see when they got up to the top. 

You heard Daryl haul ass up the twists and turns of the parking garage until you saw the car come to a halt right in front of you. Daryl and Carl were in the front seat. They quickly got out and you ran over to them. Daryl opened the back door, revealing a bloodied Rick who was laying down in the leather seats. You shook your head. 

“Alright, alright, we’ll pull him out head out first. Daryl, I need you to help me carry him.” You pointed to the redneck, eyebrows raised and a worried expression on your face. 

“Let me help Daryl,” Carl said as he walked closer to try and block your view. 

“And why?” You asked and narrowed your eyes. 

“Because I’m stronger than you.” 

“Oh, fuck off you asshole.” You cursed at him, growling. 

“Argue later!” Daryl said. “Carl help!” 

You rolled your eyes and you could see Carl smirk out of the corner of your eyes. You glared at him and growled. “Hurry the Hell up then! He looks like he lost a lot of blood.” 

Carl and Daryl got to work getting Rick out of the car. Rick groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. You could see two large blood pools that were forming on his left shoulder and lower right stomach. Daryl and Carl followed you as you entered the building and led them downstairs to the operating room that was set up. 

“Lay him on the table.” You said and gestured to it. You grabbed a surgical mask and placed it on your face. “Tell me how this happened.” 

“We were searching for supplies that were inside of a rundown house. Well, this house had a big fence around it so we had to climb over because the gate was locked. When we went over the fence the first time, it was all fine, but when we went over it the second time, that was when Rick cut himself and fell off the fence.” 

“Jesus, what type of fence was it?” You asked with raised brows. You grabbed a pair of scissors. 

“Metal.” Carl butted in. You sighed and cursed under your breath. “Is that a big deal?” 

You nodded. “Actually, it is a very big deal. At least it can be.” You noted. “If there was any type of rust on the fence and it got into his skin, then it could cause him to develop tetanus disease.” 

“Is that really such a big issue?” 

“Are you going to argue with me the entire time, because I can kick your ass out if you’re going to.” You narrowed your eyes. 

The two of you hadn’t been on good terms since he pointed a gun at your face at the strip mall. You were still rather sour about it and his aggressive tendencies were making it harder and harder to like him. Especially with that damn attitude of his. You didn’t understand how Rick dealt with him every day. 

“What is tetanus anyway?” Carl asked. 

You pointed at him. “Now you’re asking the right questions.” You stated. “You remember when the world wasn’t shit and you had to get a series of shots when you were younger? Well, a tetanus shot is one of this. This is a disease that can be easily obtained if not treated. If someone were to puncture himself on something that has rust on it and that rust gets into the wound, it would be called a tetanus infection, which has a multitude of symptoms.” You stated as you began to untuck Rick’s shirt from his pants. 

“Like?’ 

“Do I have to give you an entire fucking lesson on this fucking thing?’ 

“No need to get angry about it.” 

“Well, do you want Rick better, or not?” 

Carl narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying? You won’t work on my dad if I keep asking questions?” 

“No,” You said with attitude. “I’m just saying that I will personally have Daryl escort you out if you don’t shut up and let me work!” 

Carl looked at Daryl and Daryl gave him a small shrug. “Let her get to work and stop asking questions.” He said. 

Carl stared at his father’s friend in disbelief. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, looking away. He crossed his arms. 

You took the scissors and cut from the hem of the shirt until you got to the collar, exposing Rick’s bloody and toned chest. You chuckled and patted his chest lightly, far away from the cuts. “Nice muscles, Rick.” You said with a small chuckle. 

“Shut up.” You heard him groan lightly as you began to examine the wounds. 

“Hey, it talks. I’m gonna need you to actually not do that right now. Just stay as relaxed as you possibly can, take deep breaths and slow down your heart rate. If it hasn’t hit a major artery, then that should cause you to slow the bleeding process down.” You informed him and you noticed that he started to take deeper breaths. His eyes were closed and his skin was pale. 

“Carl, I need you to do something for me.” You said. “I need you to go next door, right over here,” You gestured to your right. “And find me an IV bag marked….” You trailed and grabbed the disinfectant liquid. You began to clean out the wound, which caused Rick to hiss and his stomach to clench. “Breathe, breathe…” 

“Marked what?” Carl asked. 

“Um….” You went to the other side of the table and examined his side wound. “Fuck, that’s deep.” 

“What is the bag marked!?” 

“Give me a minute!” You shouted as you continued to clean the wound. “What blood type is your father?” You asked. 

“I don’t know!” Carl said with a snarl. “Why should I know that?” 

“Rick, I know I told you not to talk, but if you could please tell me what blood type you…” 

“A positive.” He nodded. “I’m A positive. Same as my son.” 

“Alright.” You said. “Carl, go get me a bag filled with A positive blood. It should be marked on the bag. And...And get me an IV bag marked saline.” 

“A positive and saline. Got it.” Carl nodded before he ran out of the room. 

“Alright, now, Daryl, I need you to give me a lighter. Do you have one on you?” You asked and glanced back towards him. 

“Yeah,” He replied gruffly and pulled out a small lighter from his back pocket. 

“Thanks.” You said and took it from him. You grabbed the needle, put the thread through it and then began to light the needle with the lighter. You sighed as you saw the metal turn red. “I’m sorry in advance Rick.” You said. ‘But this is going to hurt big time.” You threw the lighter back at Daryl, who thankfully caught it, and you pressed your hand on Rick’s hip to brace, not only him but yourself as well. You inhaled, exhaled, then began to sew up the wound. 

Rick cursed and clenched his eyes shut tightly. The hot needle would cause the wound to close faster, heating the skin and warping it just slightly. As you sewed up the wound, Carl came back in with the bags and set them on one of the movable tables that were right beside you. 

“Thanks.” You mumbled to him as he backed up towards Daryl. 

You noticed that, as you were stitching his side, his fists were clenched. You glanced down at his hands and then back at his side. 

“I’m gonna need you to relax your muscles.” You said. Rick didn’t budge. “I said-” 

“I know what you said.” He told you as he slowly began to relax his body, except for the face, which was scrunched up in pain. 

“Almost done, then we will have a look at your shoulder. By the looks of it, the bleeding has stopped, but I can’t be certain.” You informed him. Once you finished the stitches, you took the scissors and cut the string. You huffed lightly and smiled. “Alright, let’s have a look at that shoulder.” You told him and then walked up to his head. “Can you sit up for me?” 

Rick glanced up at you with tired eyes. You gave him a small nod and he returned it. You smiled. 

“Daryl, help me with this.” You said and Daryl rushed to help you. 

You and Dary slowly helped Rick sit up. You kept your eye on the stitches to make sure that they didn’t burst open. You praised yourself when the stitches stayed intact. You honestly felt like doing a small jig but decided against it until the shoulder was cleaned and patched up. Hopefully, it wasn’t as bad. 

As you climbed up onto the surgical table to examine it because of your small height, you realized that it was, indeed, not as deep as the injury from the side. All it needed to do is get cleaned and bandaged. You began to disinfect it again. 

“Carl, may I ask you something?” You asked. 

“Sure.” He said. 

“Can you go to the drawer over there, grab two needles so that I can start giving him fluids.” 

“Alright.” He nodded and walked over to the drawer and searched through it. He grabbed two needles from it and walked back over to you. 

“Thanks.” You said to him again. 

“You’re welcome.” 

You dabbed the wound with a towel and hummed. You searched around and then grabbed the gigantic roll of bandages that you obtained and unrolled it. You wrapped it around his shoulder and underneath his arm before you moved it across his chest, your fingers gently moving across his stained and sweaty skin. Once you finished, you blushed brightly and got down. 

“There you go.” You said, completely unaware of the blood that painted your hands and your chest. “All done.” 

Rick glanced down at himself. He groaned and smiled. “Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” You nodded. “Oh!” You walked to the table and grabbed the blood bag. You grabbed the needle and a tube and set it up. “Can you walk?” 

Rick shrugged. “I can try.” He said. 

“Daryl, can you please help him?” You asked. 

“Yeah.” He said and assisted Rick with getting down from the table. 

“Follow my lead. Carl, bring the IV bag. You’re gonna need to stay here for a couple of hours. And by a couple...I mean thirteen” You told Rick, raising your brows. 

“Thirteen? It’ll be dark by then. I don’t think we should.” Rick breathed out.

“Yeah? Well, you need blood and you would be safer here.” 

“We need to get back,” Daryl said. 

“Jesus Christ, you two are hard asses.” You said. “You are staying here for the rest of the night and you can leave in the morning. A little bit of blood and fluids should make him feel so much better.” 

Rick and Daryl looked at each other and Rick let out a huff, his legs looking wobbly. His skin was still pale and you knew that you needed to get blood in him rapidly. He nodded. 

“Alright, now, follow me up the stairs. You guys can stay with me.” 

They all nodded in agreement and you made your way out of the room, watching as they followed you. As soon as everyone was out of the room, you turned off the light and nodded. You then led the way up to the top floor and walked to the farthest room which had two beds. The room that you slept in had two comfortable mattresses and beds that you found while on a hunt for supplies. You guessed that one of the men had to sleep in the same room as you but you threw that idea into the back of your head and focused on the task at hand. You pointed to the bed closest to the door. 

“Lay him down right there.”

Daryl carried Rick over to the bed and he helped him lay down. You walked over to him and grabbed a chair, pulling it over. You sat down next to him. 

“I need you to clench your fist for me.” Your voice was gentle and soft as you stared down at his elbow. He did as you asked him. You turned his arm around and felt around on his arm until you felt a vein - at least you thought. You took the needle from the bag and held his arm tightly as you put the needle in. You waited a couple of seconds before you saw the blood flow down the tube and into his arm. You smiled and laughed. “Thank god.” You said and stood up. You looked around. 

“Carl?” You asked. 

“Yeah?”

“IV stand? Same room.” You bit your lip and glanced at him. 

Carl groaned and rolled his eyes. He left without saying a single word. You glanced down at Rick and smiled, blushing at the fact that he was still shirtless. When it came to the topic of men, you were completely bashful and never really had a chance to be close to one before that wasn’t a part of your family. You would be lying if you said that Rick wasn’t at least a little bit attractive, but you knew that you had zero chance with him, especially considering your age difference. It wasn't even that. You didn’t want to be with him. You could think that someone was attractive and not want to date them. You weren’t stupid after all, you could spot a hot person when you saw one. 

Carl, on the other hand, was starting to grow on you in the looks department. The attitude still needed to be worked on and that was something that made up ninety-five percent of his personality, so you figured that it was a loss for him to have such a long, luscious mane and then waste his personality on being a dick. 

Carl came into the room with the stand rolling next to him. You nodded at him and gave a small smile. “Thanks.” You told him. 

“Yeah, no problem.” He said with the same defeated and exhausted expression as before. 

You grabbed the bag and hooked it up to the stand so that the blood flowed faster. You gave a small nod of acknowledgment. “There we go.” You said and took the surgical mask off of your face. You tossed it in the trash can. 

“Thanks,” Rick said as he sat up slightly, propping himself up against the wall and the pillow. 

“Will you be fine with sleeping there tonight?” You asked him. 

“I still think we should go.” He said. 

“And I said no.” You told him. “Uncertified doctor’s orders.” You pointed at him. 

Rick couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. You then yawned and rubbed your head. 

“Now, may I ask what you guys were doing so early in the morning?” 

“Searching for supplies,” Daryl said. 

“Before the sun comes up?” You furrowed your brows. 

“You gotta understand, (Y/N), we have more people to feed and with Negan in the way, we have to be more careful.” 

You hummed and nodded. You rubbed the back of your head. “Right, right. Sorry.” You said. “So,” You mumbled and bit your lip. “Are you guys hungry?” 

Rick glanced over at Daryl and then Carl, He knew that himself, nor Daryl, nor Carl had eaten since the night prior and he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t starving and he knew that you had food. Probably enough food. Rick thought about it before he accepted. 

“Yeah,” He said. “We’re hungry.” 

You nodded. “Okay, any specific type of breakfast you want? Or lunch? I don’t care.” 

“Whatever will be fine.” 

“No allergies?” 

“No,” Rick replied for himself and Carl. 

You glanced at Daryl and he shook his head in response to your question. You then nodded and looked down. “Alright. I’ll be right back with the food.” You placed your hands together in front of you before you excused yourself out of the room to go make breakfast for the men. 

  
  


The three of them ended up eating together and you, not wanting to disrupt any plans that they had, decided to sit down in the kitchen and eat your golden brown toast with butter and sugar. You fed the men eggs, meat, and potatoes. It wasn’t something you normally ate, but rather you experimented with evening meals with the food that you didn’t eat for breakfast and lunch. Normally, there were leftovers and you had a meal to eat for the next week. Maybe you would experiment that night, but you highly doubted. 

After you ate your breakfast, you went to the bedroom and walked to the men. “Are you guys done?” You asked. 

Their plates were clean and you couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at the sight, blushing and smiling. Carl nodded and held out the plate to you. Your smile vanished as your scoffed and rolled your eyes. You took the plate and slapped him on the back of the head. He choked on some food that was still in his mouth before he glared at you. You then turned to Daryl and Rick, your expression turning into a sweet and loving one. 

“Let me take your guy’s plates.” You said. 

Rick turned to Daryl and did a small head gesture towards you. Daryl gave a nod in understanding and stood up. He took Rick’s plate and turned to you. 

“Let me take it.” He said. 

You blushed and nodded. Daryl took the plate and then left. You placed your hands in front of you and turned to Carl. “Why can’t you be as nice as your father?” You asked. Carl narrowed his eyes and rolled them. You growled. You raised your right hand to strike him in the head again, but Carl caught your arm. You were caught by surprise when his reflexes were more defined than you thought. You raised your brows and then growled, lifting your left arm up. Carl glanced at your left hand and caught it as well. You grunted and Carl narrowed his eyes at you and you returned the glare. You pushed against him, but he held you away. 

“Guys, stop,” Rick said and you turned to look at him. 

Carl let go of your arms which caused you to lose your balance and fall on top of Carl, the chair he sat in falling over. You groaned as he cushioned your fall. He groaned. 

“Get off me.” He growled and shoved you off. You fell to the side, on your back. 

“God, I hate you.” You breathed and moved to sit up. You stood up straight and brushed yourself off. You huffed and clenched your fists. “I’ll be downstairs.” You said, turned, and stormed out. 

“(Y/N),” Rick called out and sat up straighter. He then sighed and looked at Carl, who was still lying on the floor. Rick shook his head. 

  
  


The laboratory was located on the sixth floor from the top of the hospital. It was the one nearest the dead, giving you access to them a lot easier. You put on your lab coat and grabbed another surgical mask. You put it on. You then entered the room, closing the door and locking it. You grabbed goggles that were set near the sink and put them on before walking to the former surgical table that contained different chemicals and a large, round object that sat inside of a pan. It moved and groaned. 

Walking over to the table, you grabbed the sheet that covered the groaning ball and lifted it, revealing the head of a male walker. Bits and pieces of his face were cut off from the close examining that you did. 

“Hey, Howard.” You said and sighed, leaning against the table. You stared at the head, its eyes were focused on you and it growled and bit the air. “I don’t think I can get anything else from you buddy.” You told him. “Plus, I really need to slice something open right now.” The last sentence came out as more of a growl. 

You glanced around and found the large butcher’s knife that you kept down there. It was by the sink. You walked over, grabbed it, and then walked back. You grabbed Howard’s head and sat it upright. You pressed the tip of the knife in the center of his skull, watching as he tried to bite your wrist. With a single stroke, you drove the knife through his skull and he became still. You cut straight through his head, cutting it in half. They landed separately in the pan. You sighed and set the knife down, walking to the corner and grabbing a separate pan from a supply closet. You walked back over and set the pan down. You grabbed half of Howard’s head and set it in the pan. You grabbed a couple of tools and was preparing to cut into the brain when there was the jiggle of the doorknob and then a knock. You glanced up at the door and saw Carl through the window. 

A heavy sigh escaped from your lips as you set the tools down and walked over to the door. You took off the goggled and the mask and set them to the side. You opened the door and walked out quickly. 

“Yeah?” You asked, raising your brows and crossing your arms. 

“Hey, listen, I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I’ve been a jerk recently.” He rubbed the back of his neck. 

You looked down awkwardly, blushing. “Yeah,” You said. “You have.” 

Carl sighed. “Thank you for taking care of my dad.” 

“It’s no problem.” You told him, uncrossing your arms and shaking your head. You folded your hands in front of you. “I try to do whatever I can. It was a nasty cut, but that means that you guys have to be careful out there. You’ll never know what can happen. A cut can be the most dangerous thing nowadays because all the hospitals have shut down.” 

“Yeah, I know.” He nodded and looked down at you. “I’m sorry.” 

You groaned, but a smile appeared on your face as you reached up and kissed his cheek. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry for being bitchy in return.” 

“It’s o-” He stopped and then smiled. “I mean, you had a reason to.” 

You chuckled. “Did your dad tell you to say that?” You asked. 

Carl stood up straight. “No.” He said, but you could see behind the facade. 

You smiled wider. “Yeah, he did.” 

Carl sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Yeah, he did.” He said. 

You looked down and couldn’t help but feel your smile grow. It was while you were looking down that Carl took the time to look you up and down. He frowned a bit when he saw the blood on the lab coat. Some stains were old and some were fresh. 

“What happened to you?” He asked and toyed with the red, burgundy, and white material. 

You glanced down at yourself and shrugged when you saw the familiar blood stains that you never bothered to wash out. To you, it made you look more like a badass. 

“It was just due to testing.” You said. “Experiments.” 

“Experiments?” His voice sounded slightly frantic, which made him seem adorably concerned. “On what? Yourself?” 

“No.” You said. 

“Then...walkers?” 

“Yeah.” You nodded. “Do you wanna see? I just cut Howard open right now.” 

“Howard? You knew the walker?” 

“Oh! No!” You said as you shook your head rapidly, waving your hands slightly for emphasis. “I don’t actually know any of the ones that I work with.” You told him and stood up in a professional manner. “I just...give them names as I bring them up from the hospital floors. It keeps me company - wow.” You raised your brows and looked down. “That’s sad.” You chuckled. “Wanna see inside the head?” 

“Um...not really,” Carl said with a disgusted look. 

You rolled your eyes. “Come on, you big baby.” You said as you nudged him slightly. 

Carl looked side to side and then back down to you. “Is it safe?” 

“Yes.” You nodded immediately. “It’s completely safe as long as you put the gloves and mask and goggles on.” 

Carl was unsteady at first, but in the end, he slowly nodded, agreeing. You smiled triumphantly as you grabbed his hand and made his way to the lab. You closed the door and locked it again. There, you began to get Carl set up, putting the gloves on his hands, the mask on his face, and the goggles over his eyes. He groaned. 

“It stinks in here.” He said. 

“Yep,” You said. “Doesn’t it smell great?” You chuckled. 

“You worry me.” 

“Yep. It might be the chemicals, but I don’t know.” You shrugged and then walked over to the table and smiled down at the two halves of the head. Carl walked over to you and you could have sworn you heard him gag underneath the mask. 

“Oh my God.” He mumbled. 

“Yeah, it’s cool, right!?” You said with great enthusiasm. 

“No, it’s gross.” 

Your shoulders slumped. “Oh…” You mumbled and looked down with a frown. You grabbed the scalpel. “Well, it’s really helpful. You see how there are tiny, tiny holes in the frontal lobe and the middle of the brain? See how it looks like swiss cheese?” 

“Yeah…” 

“Well, what happens is that after a certain number of days of being dead, the brain, itself, I found, starts to rot. However, it’s a really slow process.” 

“How slow?” 

“I approximate that he turned before this became an epidemic.” You stated. “Meaning...he’s been dead for about three...four years.” 

Carl frowned. “Are you serious?” He said. ‘That’s so long. And...and those holes are barely noticeable.” 

“I understand that.” 

“And how could you know that he was dead from the beginning of all this.” 

“Well, there are a lot of signs from the body that show it as well as the face. Most of the bodies will have minimal skin or skin that is hanging down. Some of the faces, however, have lost most, if not all of the muscle and skin. He, thankfully, had some that I was able to work with, but not as much as I would have liked. Plus,” You turned the head over so that the boney skin and exposed You pointed to the cuts and then to the eyes that were still open. “You see how his eyes are all milky and mostly white? That’s basically what happens to those who have been dead a while because the body stops making the pigment that makes up the eye color, which makes them fade easier over time.” 

Carl had his head cocked to the side as if he was intrigued by the facts that you were throwing at him. He hummed. “How do you know all this?” 

You flipped the head back around. “Books, mostly. But I also remember watching different scientific television shows when I was a kid.” 

“And you remember all of it?” He raised his brows. 

“Of course.” You said. “Do you not remember what you were taught?” 

“Not at all.” He shook his head. 

“Wow, how do you live without knowing the scientific detail about where you live or what could happen? There are so many dangers around us and the idea that I have no idea how any of this spreads just scares me but makes me want to live longer to find out.” 

Carl nodded. “Well, I live on comic books.” 

“Huh, never read one before.” 

“You never read comic books before?” He asked. 

“I’ve read regular books, but not graphic novels.” 

“Comic book.” He corrected.

“It’s the same thing, isn’t it?” 

“No. Both are very different.” 

“Oh yeah? How?” 

“Comic books are just very short stories, while graphic novels are huge and follow certain plots.” 

“Wow, look at you, nerd.” 

“Hey, I’m not a nerd.” 

“Yeah, you are.” You smiled. 

“Well,” he hesitated, thinking of a comeback. “You are too!” 

“I know I am! But I’m a different kind of nerd. I am a nerd of discoveries.” 

Carl blushed. “You’re still a nerd.” 

“Oh shush.” You told him and rolled your eyes and looked back down at Howard. You cursed yourself. “Hey, I have a task for you. How do you feel about adventuring into the lower levels of a dangerous hospital with me and getting a walker?” 

“That does not sound safe at all.” He shook his head. 

“What if we took Daryl with us.” You shrugged. 

“I still don’t think it’s going to be a good idea.” 

You sighed. “You’re no fun.” You said and glanced at the head. You shook your head and then walked towards the door, Carl following you. He, as well as yourself, took off your masks, goggles, and gloves. You threw the masks away as well as the gloves. The goggles were the only things that you kept stashed near the door. You finally hung up your lab coat and then the two of you walked out. 

“So….” You trailed. “Do you wanna go play a board game with Rick and Daryl, you know, since your father is held up?” 

Carl nodded. “It’s been a while since I’ve played a board game, but yeah, sure.” He smiled. 

You nodded. “Alright, come on.” You stated, gesturing towards the stairs. 

Saying nothing else, the two of you made your way up the stairs and to the upper parts of the hospital. 

  
  


For the rest of the day, you and the three boys talked and played board games. There were some moments when Rick and Daryl would discuss plans dealing with the Sanctuary as well as supply necessities that you and them would need to keep an eye out for. You also communicated some items that you needed in the near future. By the end of the day, after sitting down to a wonderful meal of burgers, you and the men decided to retire for the night. 

You were checking Rick’s bags one last time. He was already looking better as he had drained most of the A positive blood out of the bag. The fluids would keep him up and running overnight. You hummed. 

“You’re looking better by the minute.” You told him. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Thanks for taking care of it.” 

“You’re welcome. But I would try not to strain yourself too much or else the stitches will split open. Don’t be the hero. Because we don’t want our hero to get himself killed because he was stupid.” 

Rick smiled light-heartedly and nodded. “Alright,” He told you. “I promise.” 

“Good.” You said and looked at Daryl in the other bed. “Night Daryl.” You said softly. 

Daryl turned and glanced at you over his shoulder before he situated himself again. “Night.” He grumbled in his scratchy voice. 

As you turned to leave, Carl came in with a pillow in one hand and a blanket in the other. You frowned. “What the hell are you doing?” 

“I’m getting a bed set up next to my dad’s.” He said, pointing to the spot on the floor next to Rick’s bed. 

You glanced back at it before shaking your head. “No, you can sleep with me tonight.” 

“Huh?” His cheeks turned a dark shade of red. 

“I have a spare bed in my room. Come on.” You grabbed the blanket from him, laid it on your shoulder, and then grabbed his hand before closing the door. You then led him down the hallway and to your room. “Here you go.” You said. “You can get that far bed.” You gestured to it. “This one,” you jumped onto your bed and smiled. “Is mine.” 

Carl rubbed the back of his neck, closing the door. “Are you sure?” He asked. 

You nodded. “Yeah. I would much rather you guys have beds than have one of you sleep on the floor. Don’t worry, I trust you guys enough to have three men sleep in the same space as me.” 

Carl walked over to the bed and looked down at himself. He was still in his clothing from earlier that day. It was dirty and he just wanted to get out of them, but by the look on his face, he was afraid to ask you anything. Still, he knew he had to at some point during the night. 

“Do you mind if I sleep in my underwear?” 

“As long as you don’t sleep naked.” You pointed at him.

“No, no, not naked.” 

“Good, then, yeah, I don’t care. Hey…” You trailed. “Do you want me to clean your clothes?” 

Carl thought about it before he shook his head. “No thanks.” He said. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Alright.” 

You turned so that your back faced Carl. He took the time to take off his shirt, shoes, socks, and pants, tossing them beside his newly assigned bed. You, on the other hand, snuggled into the bed and smiled lightly. Carl glanced down at you, bit his lip, and then bent down, kissing your cheek. You raised your brows and glanced back at him quickly. He got situated in his bed. 

“What was that for?” You asked as you touched your cheek. 

“For saving my Dad.” He said and covered himself up. “Goodnight (Y/N).” 

You rubbed your cheek, slowly blushed, and smiled. “Thanks.” You whispered. “Goodnight Carl,” You said before you turned to the light and switched it off before the two of you crept into sleep. 


	3. Goddammit Sharon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader makes a little stop in Alexandria to give Rick and the group some supplies. Little does she know that she is going to be taking a little bit of cargo back with her.

That morning was absolutely beautiful, the sun was out and the temperature was refreshing. As you drove to Alexandria, your window was down, sending your hair flying behind you. A box of supplies that Rick requested was the only thing that accompanied you on your little trip. It was stock full of bandages, rubbing alcohol, canned goods, and some comics that you got just for Carl. You reached over to your cupholder and grabbed the pair of sunglasses that you kept in there and put them on, relieved that the sun was out of your eyes.

The fence around Alexandria was different than the first time you saw it. They added metal strips along the outside and barbed wire marked the top of it. You smiled, proud of yourself for giving them the tips. Standing on guard, you could see, was Daryl, a rifle held on his rough hands. When you pulled up to the gate, you stopped and stuck your hand out the window. You gave Daryl a small wave, which he returned before walking down from his post. He opened up the gate slowly and you pulled in, parking right as you entered. You pulled the keys from the ignition and put them in your pocket. You got out and closed the door before going to the other side and grabbing the box. 

“Hey (Y/N),” Daryl said as he walked back over to you. 

“Hey,” You said, nodding to him. “How have you been?” 

“Been good.” He said. “You?” 

“Good. Were you guys able to find those chemicals I was asking for?” 

Daryl shook his head. “Sorry,” He said. “It’s hard to find stuff like that.” 

“I get it.” You sighed. “I’ll talk to you later.” You balanced the box in your arms before you began to head towards the Grimes’ household. There were several people that you knew - barely - that you passed that you didn’t acknowledge. They gave you small stares or even ignored you all together. Either way, you brushed them off and walked up the porch. You entered the house without invitation. 

As you distanced yourself from the source of the light, you took off your sunglasses and put them in the pocket opposite your keys. Afterwards, you made your way to the beautiful kitchen that Rick was lucky to have. You set the box on top of the kitchen counter and grabbed the cans of food, setting them down before you snatched the comics and headed for the living room. You could hear the giggles of Judith and smiled. When you entered, you saw Carl on the couch, playing with wooden blocks with Judith. An even wider smile appeared on your face as you walked over to Carl and tossed the comic books into his lap. Visibly, he jumped and let out a small sound, causing you to chuckle deeply. Carl glanced up at you and smiled. 

“Hey.” He said and stood up. He wrapped his arms around you in a hug and you returned it. “When did you get here?” 

“Less than five minutes ago. I came with some supplies and I need to check on your dad’s wound.” You said and pulled back. 

“Is he still at risk?” 

“I’m afraid he is. More so since his wound has successfully closed -  yay me.” You smiled. Carl smiled as well. 

Judith stood up on the couch and looked at you, smiling. She waved her tiny hand in your direction. “Hi.” She said in a small, childish voice before she began to chew on her fist. 

You looked at her and smiled lovingly. You walked over to her and picked her up, hugging her. “Hi.” You said and chuckled. Judith wrapped her tiny, little arms the best that she could around your neck before pulling away. 

The feeling of Carl’s hand on your lower back made you jump and turn to him. He beamed. “She really missed you.” 

“I can tell. I missed the little devil too.”  You informed Carl before planting a wet kiss on the toddler’s cheek. She cringed and giggled. 

“Did you get anything else important?’ 

“Yeah, just some canned foods, rubbing alcohol, and bandages.” 

“Alright, why don’t me and you go put the rubbing alcohol and bandages up?” He asked. 

“Who will watch Judith?” 

“We can get Tara to watch her. She’s not doing anything right now.” 

“You know that for sure?” 

Carl hesitated before he responded. “Yes.” 

You smiled and chuckled. ‘Alright. I’ll grab the-” 

“No, I’ll get the box.” 

You raised your brows at his eagerness and then nodded. “Thank you. I set the box down on one of the kitchen counters.” 

A white smile appeared on his face as he turned towards the kitchen with you following suit. Carl grabbed the box, leaving the canned goods near the fridge. Without a word, only a smile between the two of you, you, Carl, and Judith made your way over to Tara’s house, you carrying Judith and Carl carrying the box. You were the one that knocked lightly on the door, stepping back. It didn’t take that long for Tara to come to the door, glancing at Carl and then at you. 

“Hey,” She said, pressing one hand on her hip and the other on the doorframe. 

“Hey Tara, could you watch Judith for a little bit? (Y/N) and I have to put some supplies away.” 

Tara nodded. ‘Sure,” She turned to you, holding out her arms. You handed her Judith, who went to her without any issue. “Come on Judith.” She smiled. “Let’s go inside.” She said and told Carl and you nothing else before closing the door. 

“I can take the box now.” 

Carl shook his head, his hair shifting with his movements. “I got it.” He told you. “Let’s go.” With his head, he gestured away from the house and began to walk away, you following right beside him. 

Ever since you helped his father, you and Carl started to build a very fond relationship. Carl, you had to admit, was developing into a perfect friend - the first friend that you had since the start of the apocalypse. He was nicer, no longer a dick, shot you a smile every time that he saw you, and even went as far as staying up with you, talking, for countless hours, on the walkie talkies. The late-night chats were mostly based around your lives well before the world went to shit, but they were still talks that made you sleep easier and made you feel less lonely. Many times you have considered asking Carl or some of the other people in Alexandria if they wanted to move to the hospital with you to give you more company, but you would always back down, knowing that because you were new, and because they made Alexandria their home, they wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. 

You understood, of course, that was one of the main reasons why you denied the option of living in Alexandria. The hospital had become your home, that and you had important research that was located there and you would be damned if you were just going to abandon ship or risk moving it. It was too valuable to you and you had made too much progress to jeopardize your findings. Still, it made your nights seem empty. That’s why you were thankful that you had Carl. 

The clinic in Alexandria was small, but could hold up to six people in beds and cots. The cabinets were filled with as many medications as Negan’s men left and what Rick’s group had found over the course of two or three weeks after Negan stopped making his weekly appearances. You had to admit that they were limited on antibiotics and medications, but the ones that they acquired were powerful and high class, but there were some, you knew, that they would never be able to use. Bottles of Valsartan, Diuril, BuSpar, Montelukast, and medicines alike littered the shelves of the medicine cabinets. Those prescription pills were given to people with heart, blood pressure, anxiety, and coughing problems. Not necessarily the best for people with injuries. It got you thinking: you might just have to provide Rick with an offer of trading some of his useless medications with some of the well known ones that you had with you at the hospital - ibuprofen, tylenol, and even hydrocodone. 

When the two of you entered, you closed the door, taking in the fresh smell of air that circulated throughout the room. The clinic didn’t smell as sanitary as the hospital did - which smelled as if it was brand new after a hard scrubbing on your part - however, you had to admit that it gave the small clinic a homey feeling when you were inside of it, which was a bonus in your book. 

Carl set the box of items on top of one of the examination tables. He sorted through it, bringing out the alcohol and the bandages before he began to put it up. You started to help as well, smiling as you did so. Halfway through putting the items away, Carl stopped near the box, biting his lip. You, however, continued. 

“Why don’t you come and live with us?” He asked. 

This made you stop in your tracks right before you reached the cabinet. You frowned and turned towards Carl, shoulders slumping. “Carl, that’s...that’s my home.” You said. “I can’t just pack up everything and leave. It wouldn’t feel right to me.” You looked down at the floor with a look of shame on your face. “Plus, I have so much research there.” 

“You can move it here.” He said. 

“I don’t want to risk it. It’s too important and one little mix up can screw up the entire research and throws all of my work right down the crapper.” You placed the bandages on their designated row. 

“Is it really that important?” 

You turned back to Carl and started to walk towards him. “It’s more important than you will ever know.” You raised your brows and looked at Carl with utter seriousness. “Ever since I found that lab, I have been doing scientific experiments all leading down to one item that can change how we view this world for the rest of our lives. I’m not talking about more powerful painkillers, or developing chemicals that we can soak bullets in to melt someone from the inside out,” Carl’s eyes were wide with worry, wonder, and fear all in one. “Carl, I am talking about a cure. The most important cure that science has ever created. The cure from the infected.” 

Carl shook his head. “(Y/N),” 

“I’m being serious Carl. I have a feeling I’m close. Really close.” You shook your head. “Please don’t think I’m crazy because of it.” 

“No...I...I don’t.” He shook his head. “The thing is, I just think it’s impossible.” 

“That’s what science  _ is _ Carl! Everyone thinks it’s impossible. People thought it was impossible to put a man on the moon, to be able to fly, to create an artificial intelligence capable of learning simple and complex tasks, but humans were still able to do that. Hell, Carl, people thought that the dead rising was something only told as scary stories to scare teenagers while they were out camping. Every day,” You stepped closer to Carl. “Our lives are filled with events that we thought was impossible, but the world works in amazing ways and humans are just as wonderous and mysterious.” 

Carl sighed. “We...had a man named Eugene.” He said. “He works with Negan now, but he told everyone that he was a scientist from Washington D.C. and that there was a cure hidden there.” 

“Bullshit!” You said and shook your head. 

Carl’s eyes widened. He waved his hand. “We know. He told us.” 

“The idea of him being a scientist I could care less about, but the government having a cure for the disease…” You trailed and swallowed. ‘I don’t even wanna get into that.” You began to put the rest of the supplies away. 

Carl swallowed and began to slowly help. “I’m sorry for asking.” 

You shook your head. ‘No,” You said. ‘Don’t be. I went way too overboard with my response.” You chuckled lightly. “Great question.” 

“The cure, though...how do you know you’re close?” 

“I have a gut feeling.” You shook your head. “I still need more research on walkers ever since I cut Howard in half. Poor guy.” 

Carl nodded. ‘Well, maybe you can get another walker when you get back to the hospital.” 

“Maybe.” You said. 

As you made your way back to the examination table for the last time, Carl hummed. 

“Hey, um, (Y/N)...” 

You turned and glanced at him with raised brows. “Yeah?” 

Carl moved his mouth up and down, as if he was trying to find the words. You cocked your head to the side. 

“Carl, what is it?” 

Carl shook his head, but just as it appeared that he was about to say something, a gunshot was heard. You jumped and glanced towards the window, seeing Daryl aiming the silenced rifle down near the area before the gate. You frowned. 

“What is he doing?” You asked. 

Carl walked closer to you and looked out the window at Daryl. He shook his head. “There might be some walkers banging on the gate.” He shrugged. 

You looked at him. “Walkers?’ You asked. You smiled and, without word, ran out of the clinic. 

“(Y/N)!” Carl called after you before running after you, abandoning the medical supplies. 

As you ran towards Daryl, you waved your hands in the air frantically. “Wait! Daryl! Wait!” 

Daryl glanced back at you with furrowed brows. “What is it?’ He asked.

“How many more walkers are out there?” 

“Three.” He said and shot another one. 

“Leave one for me!” You said as you ran to the car. You reached in the back and pulled out the closest thing you could find to rope: jumper cables. 

“What?” He asked with a confused look, his brows furrowing. 

“Just trust me, please.” 

Daryl shook his head and growled before he shot another one. You ran over to the gate, soon followed by Carl. You glanced at him. 

“Can you help me?’ You asked. “It’s a lot easier to get a walker here than it is to get one at the hospital.” 

With slight hesitation, Carl walked over to you and helped push the gate open. The sound of the walker filled your eyes. It was a female, her chest nude and her bottoms torn. Her mouth was hanging open, teeth dark and yellow and covered in blood. Her eyes were faded, but the pupil was still visible. She made her way towards you and Carl, her feet scraping against the road. You and Carl backed up and watched as she charged towards you. 

“So, what’s the plan?” He asked. 

You thought for a couple of seconds. “How about we both grab an arm, put them behind her back, and I’ll tie them together with these jumper cables.” You held them up. “Then we can lead her to the clinic.” 

“Alright, I guess we can do that.” 

“We just have to make sure that she doesn’t bite us.” 

“Right.” Carl nodded. 

The walker trudged her way through the gates, growling as she did so. Daryl made his way down from the post and made his way over. “‘Yer insane.” He said and began to close the gate, grunting as he did so. 

“I know, glad you finally noticed.” You told Daryl, rolling your eyes slightly before you turned to Carl. “Ready? Set. Go!” You said. 

Carl and you rushed towards the walker, each grabbing one of her arms. Her hands clenched tightly as she tried to claw and bite you. You shook your head. “No, no, Sheila.” 

“Sheila?” 

“Leave me alone. That’s the name I picked.” You smiled as you and Carl pressed the walker’s wrists together. You began to tie them together. 

Carl chuckled. “What about Sharon?” 

You gasped and made a small knot with the cables. “That  _ does _ sound Sassier.” You smiled. “Now, whenever something bad happens, I can just say, ‘goddammit Sharon’.” 

Carl smiled and laughed, shoulders bouncing up and down. Once the knot was created, you grabbed the walker’s hands and her hair. You began to lead her to the clinic. However, before you could make it to the building, you saw Michonne and Rick in the distance, running towards you. Rick had his hand on his gun in his belt. 

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked with wide eyes. 

“Don’t worry,” You said and shook your head. “This is very safe and very necessary.” 

“We don’t bring walkers inside the fence!” 

“Don’t worry.” You repeated and brought Sharon into the clinic, Michonne, Rick, and Carl following. “No one is going to get hurt and I’ll pack her up right after I’m done.” 

“What are you talking about? Why are you doing this?” 

“Because I’m insane.” 

“(Y/N)...” 

“Because I’m doing research and I need a walker. Do either of you have a knife?” You bent Sharon over the examination table. She struggled weakly. 

Carl pulled a knife from his pocket and you accepted it. You then began to cut through the skin on her neck, through the deteriorating muscles, and then through the weak bone, which was the most difficult of the three levels. Once the head was cut off, the body went limp and fell to the floor. You giggled and looked at the three of them. Carl shook his head while Michonne and Rick gave you a worried and disgusted look. 

“What?” You asked with shrug. 

“What….what research do you need a walker for?” Rick asked. 

“I...have gotten close to developing a cure.” You said. “At least I am…” You looked at Sharon. “Eighty-three-point-five-six-nine percent sure.” 

“A cure? A cure for the infection?” 

“Yes.” You nodded. “That’s why I don’t want to leave the hospital. All of my work is there. I need to finish it and be prepared just in case something happens.” 

“Nothing’s going to happen.” 

“Anything can happen.” You nodded. “It’s sad to say, but it’s true.” You patted Sharon’s head. “I’ll pack her up as I’m getting ready to leave. Speaking of me leaving, before I do, I need to get a look at your stitches. Why don’t you have a seat on the other examination table and I can go ahead and take a look.” 

Rick glanced at Michonne, then Carl, then the walker, before he sighed. ‘Alright.” He said and walked over to the other table. He sat on top of it and began to unbutton his shirt. The action caused a blush to fall onto your face but you tried to shake it away. 

“Have you experienced any symptoms including: fever, fast heart rate, difficulty swallowing, drooling, stiff muscles, muscle spasms, episodes of no breathing and/or shortness of breath?” 

Rick shook his head. “No.” He took his shirt off. You moved closer to him and pressed your fingers gently against his side, examining the stitches. 

“Is the area still sensitive?’ 

“Not as bad as it was the first week or so.” 

“That’s good. I don’t think you have tetanus disease, but until your stitches fade, I think it would be a good idea if we kept a good eye on it.” 

“Alright,” Rick nodded. 

You raised your brows. ‘Oh! Carl!’ You looked at him. “You had something that you wanted to say to me earlier. What was it?” 

All eyes were on Carl, who was frowning at your mention of his little hesitation episode earlier. He glanced at you, then Rick, and then Michonne. A blush slowly crept onto his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I….It was nothing.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah.” He nodded and placed his hands in his pockets, glancing down, causing his hair to fall into his face. 

You gave a small nod. “Alright, well, if you want to tell me again, you can just, you know, do it.” 

“Okay.” He said and turned back towards the box. He began to put the rest of the items away. 

Rick glanced at Michonne, who shrugged. You patted Rick’s knee. “You can go ahead and put your shirt back on.” 

Rick did so, placing the shirt back over his arms before buttoning it up. “What did you bring for us?” 

“I brought canned goods, which we left in your house, bandages, rubbing alcohol, and comic books for Carl.” 

“Sounds good. I’m sorry that we don’t have anything for you yet today.” 

“That’s alright. All you have to do is bring it to the hospital or call me and I’ll stop by and grab the supplies from you.” You gave him a reassuring nod. 

“We’ll do that.” 

“I should probably get going.” 

Once Carl heard you say that, he stopped and frowned. “But you just got here.” 

“I know, I really want to stay, but I gotta get her home and start working on her.” You nodded. 

Carl frowned, shoulders slumping. He packed up the last of the items before you turned to Rick. 

“Can someone help me get the body to the car? I’ll carry the head.” 

“Yeah,” Carl walked over. “Dad, can you help me?” 

Rick got down from the examination table and nodded. Both him and his son picked up the body and began carrying it out with Michonne holding open the door for them. You followed with Sharon’s head, thanking Michonne and heading for the SUV. 

“Just in the backseat.” You told them.

Rick was the one that opened the backseat and helped Carl throw the body inside. You then set the head in the passenger’s side before the two doors closed. Carl turned to you. 

“Do you really have to go?” He asked. 

You nodded. ‘Yeah.” You rubbed the back of your neck. “But you can always come and visit me whenever, as long as it’s alright with Rick. Plus, we have the walkies.” 

“I guess.” Carl rubbed his arm lightly. 

You smiled lightly and kissed his cheek before hugging him. His brows raised and eyes widened in surprise, but it didn’t take long before he wrapped his arms around you, engulfing you in his natural warmth. A shiver ran down your spine and red covered your cheeks. You almost allowed yourself to get comfy in the touch, but pulled away right before you could. You gave him a wide smile. 

“Talk to you tonight?” You asked. 

Carl nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you tonight.” 

You nodded in acknowledgement before turning and walking to the passenger’s side of the car, getting in and buckling in. Sharon growled, eyes darting around. Grabbing the keys from your pocket, you put them in the ignition and turned on your vehicle. After maneuvering so that the front of the SUV was facing the gate, you waved at Carl, Rick, Michonne, and Daryl, who was standing next to the open gate. You drove through the gate, then, leaving Alexandria behind you. 

  
  
  


As you drove off, down the road, Carl watched, a frown on his lips. Rick brought everyone back inside the gates of Alexandria, and that was when Daryl closed the gates. Rick walked beside his son and Michonne with one hand hanging onto his belt. 

“What did you want to talk to (Y/N) about?” He asked. 

Carl hummed and raised his brows, glancing at Rick. He then blushed and shook his head. ‘Nothing. It wasn’t important.” He said. 

Rick raised a brow, smirked, and glanced at Michonne, who looked at him as well. She shook her head. Rick glanced back at Carl. “You like her, don’t you?” 

Carl stopped in his tracks, paused, and looked at his father with a wide eyed stare. “What?” He asked. “No!” 

Rick stopped right beside Carl and nodded. “You like her.” 

“I do  _ not _ like her.” 

Rick turned to Michonne. “Do you think he’s lying?” 

Michonne raised her brows and nodded. “Without a doubt.” 

Carl sighed and shook his head, face turning a bright shade of pink. “Just leave me alone. I don’t like her.” He said before storming off. 

Rick smirked and Michonne bit her lip and glanced at Rick, arms crossed and hip cocked. “He likes her.” She said. 

“Oh, I know he does.” He said as he wrapped an arm around Michonne’s hip, causing her to giggle. “Let’s go.” He mumbled as he pulled her along with him. 

  
  
  


The entire ride home, your cheeks were flushed and the feeling of the hug that you had with Carl still lingered on your skin. His warmth was still against you as if you were still embracing - maybe it was the sun. A growl came from Sharon. You glanced at the walker head with furrowed brows. 

“What? No, no, I don’t like Carl.” You said. 

Sharon growled again, eyes moving back and forth rapidly and mouth moving up and down. 

“Well….I wouldn’t say that. He’s not  _ sexy _ . Gosh, I don’t even know what that means. He’s just...prepossessing. Yeah! That’s the word.” You smiled. 

Sharon growled and you frowned. 

“I like Carl.” You said. “Just not like that. I don’t think. I’m not sure really. The idea of romance and love and crushes has never crossed my mind before. I never had time. Heck, I never had a Kindergarten crush and  _ everyone _ has had one of those.” You sighed and sat back in the driver’s seat. “What can I say? I’m basically an exile without the exile. Oh, no, I’m not making anymore sense.” Your shoulders slumped. “Maybe...maybe I  _ do _ like Carl.” You paused. “What am I saying? I do not.” 

Sharon growled. 

“Do not.” 

Growl. 

“Do not.” 

Growl.

“Do not.”

Growl. 

“I said, ‘do not’.” 

It took longer for Sharon to growl louder, chomping the air, longing for flesh. You frowned and glanced at her. You then looked back at the road with a look of defeat in your face as you drove home. 

“Do.” 


	4. Shut up, (Y/N)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader goes back to Alexandria three days after dropping off the supplies to collect some items that Rick got for her. However, she stays a little later to spend some quality time with Carl.

The comforter on your bed covered your entire body, engulfing you in a cave of darkness. You were scrunched up in the fetal position, cradling yourself. A familiar voice rang through the walkie talkie that sat nestled on the pillow next to your head, relaxing you and pulling you towards the familiar feeling of slumber. Carl and you had done another one of your late night chats, that time with Carl talking to you continuously about the comic books that he used to read as a kid and how they will never create anymore volumes.

“...and they left the last one on a cliffhanger, so now we won’t get to see what happens to Sergeant Drake.” Carl sighed and the walkie went silent. 

Your eyelids were like weights on your eyes, lowering halfway before you lifted them all the way. The process repeated itself over and over again. 

“(Y/N)? You there?” 

You jolted up, forcing your eyes open and grabbing the walkie talkie. You pressed the red button on the side of it. “Sorry! Sorry! I was dozing off! I’m awake. I was listening!” 

When you removed your finger, you could hear Carl chuckling. You ran your hand tiredly down your face and shook your head. 

“I bet you weren’t.” Carl retorted. 

“I was, I was,” You reassured him, laying back down in the same spot as you had been before, placing your covers back over your head. 

“Prove it. What was the last thing that I said?” Carl asked with a smirk clearly on his lips. 

“Um…” You trailed and ran your tongue over your bottom lip. “Something about not finding out what happens to Sergeant...something-or-another.” 

Carl chuckled. “Close enough.” He said. 

You gave a nod. “Well, if...if you’re so worried about what happens to him, then what we can do is make our own stories about him.” 

Carl’s side of the line was silent before you heard him speak, a little frantically than before. “That’s the best idea that you ever had!” His voice was hush but still excited. 

“Really?” You yawned. “I thought my mustard and cheese sandwich with guacamole idea was pretty good.” 

“That’s just gross, (Y/N).” Carl chuckled lightly. “No one would ever eat that.” 

“I would!” You replied. 

“Would you?” 

You hesitated. “Probably...probably not.” 

“That’s what I thought.” Carl said. 

A smile appeared on your lips. You chuckled deeply and tiredly. After a long yawn, you were planning on telling Carl that you needed to retire for the night. However, a different voice came over the walkie talkie before you had a chance to do so.

“(Y/N),” The familiar gruff voice made your brows raise. “It’s Rick. We got some stuff for you that you might want. Would you be able to pick it up tomorrow?”

“Ugh…” You answered. “Sure. I can come by tomorrow afternoon.” 

“Good.” Rick said. There was an eerie and awkward silence on the other end of the walkie before Rick spoke one last time. “Go to bed (y/n).” 

A blush fell upon your face. “Yes, sir.” You said. 

You settled yourself correctly in the bed, covering all but your head, and leaned your head against the pillow. You expected the conversation with Carl to be over, but, soon, Carl spoke up again. You sighed lightly. 

“Sorry about that (Y/N).” He said. 

You chuckled and pressed the button. “That’s alright.” 

“I should probably get to bed, but I’ll see you tomorrow!” Carl said excitedly. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow Carl. Goodnight.” A smile was on your face. 

“Goodnight.” 

You kept the walkie talkie on, but placed it on the nightstand beside the bed. Afterwards, you curled into a ball in your bed, closing your eyes. Your mind had already started to shut down for the night, causing you to fall asleep almost as soon as you hit the pillow. It was as if slumber had hit you like a freight train. 

  
  
  


In the morning, you awoke with a headache. It was then that you vowed that you would never stay up as late as you had the night before - even though you knew that you would break your own promise if it meant being able to talk to Carl. You used ibuprofen and coffee to take the headache away. It began to fade thirty minutes after your personal treatment. 

As the sun was settling itself in the center of the sky, you got into your SUV and made your way to Alexandria, the sunglasses resting on the bridge of your nose. Your right hand was resting on the top of the steering wheel while your left arm rested on the open window that allowed the summer breeze to flow through your locks. As you drove, you wondered what the Alexandrians could have collected for you. It could have been food, medicine, some elaborate chemicals that they found while searching an abandoned science facility - you could only dream - or some items you could use for reinforcement. 

However, as you were thinking about the many objects that you could receive, you found yourself thinking about Carl. Not about the times that the two of you have spent together or things that you could do with him while you were visiting Alexandria. No, you were thinking about the color of his eye. The beautiful mixture of blue and green that sparkled whenever it was exposed to the sun made your heart skip…

You shook your head. Why were you thinking about his eye color? It was completely irrelevant to the task at hand. You cleared your mind and tried to focus on driving. There was silence in the car. 

_ His hair is a nice shade _ , you thought. 

You shook your head, cursing at yourself and forbidding it from saying anything else. Again, silence. 

_ But his hugs are warm.  _

“Shut up.” You growled, placing both hands on the wheel angrily, clenching it so tightly that your knuckles turned white. 

_ He feels really strong _ . 

“Shut up.” 

_ Have you ever noticed his lips?  _

You growled. “Shut up.” 

_ You know you’re just arguing with your own train of thought, right? _

“I know!” You shouted, frustrated at yourself. A world wide genius cannot take her mind off a boy. Yeah, that’s all he was. A stupid boy. 

_ A stupid boy with a really nice smile _ . 

You nodded and shrugged. You had a point. A sigh fell from your lips. Your attempts were futile. The entire ride to Alexandria, you couldn’t help but think of Carl. 

  
  
  
  


Rosita was on watch that day - if you remembered her name correctly. She was the one with the serious, revengeful look in her eye. She was the one that didn’t seem to trust anyone, let alone new people. In fact, you had a feeling that she hated you. It was just a gut feeling and, normally, your gut feelings are rather strong and accurate. You stayed as far away from her as you possibly could, only staying with the people that you trusted fully and who appreciated you for your personality and your skills. 

_ Carl… _

“Shut up!” You growled out between clenched teeth, shaking your head. Once you got to the gate, you stuck your head out the window. “Rosita!” You called. “Can you please open the gate?” 

Wordlessly, she gave you a nod and got down from the post. She quickly made her way to the gate and opened it up far enough for your SUV to fit through. You inched your way inside and parked within the walls. Rosita closed the gates and made her way back to the platform. When you got out, you looked at her. 

“Thanks,” You called out, waving a hand in her direction.

Rosita glanced back at you and gave you a nod in response. When she turned back around, you rolled your eyes. Instinctively, you made your way over to the Grimes’ residence. 

“Hey (Y/N),” You heard and looked up, watching as Tara passed you. 

You smiled. “Hey Tara.” You waved at her. 

The Grimes’ residence was two doors down and, from your view in the street, you could already see Carl in the living room with Rick. Rick seemed to be sorting through a box of some sort - you were certain it was the one he called you down for - and Carl was holding Judith. A smile made its way onto your lips. 

_ He’s such a good big brother _

The smile then vanished and you sighed. 

_ I wonder how good he would be with children _ . 

“That’s a little too much.” You mumbled as you walked onto the porch and knocked on the door. 

_ I know you want to know _ . 

“No, I don’t.” Your cheeks turned into a bright shade of pink. Your voice was extremely quiet, almost on the verge of being undetectable. 

_ He  _ is _ a good big brother though _ . 

“I won’t deny that.” 

Just as you finished mumbling the words, the door opened. Carl stood there, hair pushed back behind his ears and a wide smile on his face once he saw it was you. “Hey.” He said as he walked close to you, hugging you. 

You beamed, wrapping your arms around him. “Hey.” You greeted as he pulled away. “It’s great to see you.” 

“It’s great to see you too! Come on in!” He gestured for you to go inside. 

You blushed again. “Such a gentleman.” You commented and strolled in the house, going to the living room. 

Judith sat on the floor, playing with different toys than she was three days ago. Rick glanced up at you. 

“Hey,” He said with a small nod. “Come here. I wanna show you what we got.” 

“Ooo,” You smiled, raising your shoulders. “You’re making me all excited Rick.” You walked over to the couch and stared into the box. 

Rick rolled his eyes and looked into the box. “We found some unmarked medicine, syringes, we put some food in there that we found, soap, clothes-” 

“Where did you get the clothes?” You asked, furrowing your brows. 

“Maggie had some and decided to give some to us because they were just collecting dust.” 

“Remind me again...Maggie is….Hill….top...lady?” You asked with a very uneasy tone. 

“Yes.” 

“Okay, good.” 

Rick gave you a brief description of the other members of his group that were spread out to different communities. There was Carol and Morgan at the Kingdom and Maggie at the Hilltop. However, you hadn’t had the chance to meet any of the people in the other groups that had joined the cause of fighting against the Saviors. 

“Michonne also thought they would be good for you.” Rick said with a shrug. 

“I’ll have to take a look at them when I get home.” You assured him. “Is that it?” 

Rick nodded. “That should be it. I thought you would like the medications mostly.” 

You nodded. “I do.” You said with a smile. “Thank you.” You said and picked up the box. “I’ll just put this in my car and-” You began to make your way out of the house. 

Carl stopped in your path, holding up his hands slightly. “Wait, you’re not leaving already, are you?” He asked. 

You frowned and shook your head. “No.” You said. “I was, actually hoping that I could stay for a little way.” You looked at Carl, then Rick, then back at Carl. “Nothing professional. Just to...stick around. It beats being lonely at the hospital all day. If...that’s alright with you, Rick.” 

“Why would I have a problem with it? You’re welcome here anytime.” Rick nodded. 

You smiled. “Well, thanks. That settles it, then. I’m staying for a while.” You said. 

“Great,” Carl said, smiling widely. “Because I was hoping that we could, um, hang out.”

A pink tinge appeared on your cheeks. “Yeah.” You said. “That sounds great.”

“Great….” Carl nodded awkwardly. “W-Well, let me take that to your car for you.” He said and walked closer to you, grabbing the box from your arms. 

You blushed as you felt his fingers grazing against your arms and hands. Your heart raced slightly and you cursed yourself mentally. “Thank you.” You said. “Come on,” 

With a small nod towards Rick, you made your way out of the house with Carl carrying the box right next to you. As you and him walked down the street, your hands were cupped in front of you. 

“So what do you want to do?” You asked. 

“Um...I was just thinking we could go somewhere. Talk. Maybe the church?” 

“Church? I’ve never seen the inside of your church.” 

“Oh, well, the belltower has a nice view of Alexandria.” 

“Alright, we’ll go up there to talk.” You giggled and opened up the back door. Carl put the box inside of the car and you closed the door. 

“Here,” Carl said and grabbed your hand gently. “Let’s go.” 

You and Carl turned, walking down the road to the church. You could see the belltower in the distance. It was beautiful, tall, and white. A wicked smile appeared on your face as you pulled your hand away from Carl’s. 

“I’ll race you!” You said with an enthusiastic tone and darted down the road. 

Carl raised his brows and smiled. “Hey!” He called after you and began running after you. 

The adrenaline of the race made you all giddy, a smile appearing on your face and laughs falling from your lips. Carl, being taller than you, caught up to you pretty quickly. You still kept a decent lead until you neared the entrance. As you were about to step through the doors, long arms wrapped themselves around your waist, pulling you back until your back was pressed flush against the front of Carl’s body. You raised your brows as he twirled you around and ran into the door. You rushed in after him. You were panting slightly while he seemed absolutely unphased by the run. 

“Hey!” You poked at his chest playfully. “That wasn’t fair.” 

“Fair is fair.” He smiled. 

You grumbled and crossed your arms. “Not fair.” You pouted. 

Carl chuckled, chest rumbling. He poked your cheek and you swatted his hand away, giggling. “Come here,” He said. “Let’s go.” Again, he grabbed your hand gently and led you deeper inside the church. 

It wasn’t that difficult to get to the belltower. You and Carl just had to trek down a dark hallway and climb up a ladder. The view, however, was absolutely stunning. Alexandria looked rather large from where you were. The luscious green tops of the trees beyond the fence were bright and full of life. You smiled. 

“It looks really nice up here.” You commented and sat down, crossing your legs. 

Carl nodded as he sat next to you, crossing his legs as well. There was an awkward silence between the two of you. 

_ Say something. _

You bit your lip and fought back the urge to scold yourself. 

_ Come on, ask him something _ .

You cleared your throat. “So, what...do you want to talk about?” 

_ Nice one, (y/n). _

Carl looked at you. “Um...well. How is the research and cure going?” He asked. 

You raised your brows. Now  _ that _ was something that you were comfortable talking about. You positioned yourself with your back straight. You got on your knees to get more comfortable. 

“Well, I got a good look at Sharon yesterday. She was able to give me some good DNA from her tongue, teeth, and skin. I mean, there isn’t really that many differences between her and Howard, but she was able to give me more samples from data.” You nodded excitedly. “Comparing the data to the ones that I had a couple weeks ago, I can tell that I have made some progress. You see, what I do is I take a small piece of skin from my fingers - nothing too severe, I never draw blood - and put it in a petri dish with some of the germs and bacteria that is found from a walker’s teeth and watch as it slowly fights one another. Normally, the bacteria will infect the skin and turn it a dark green or grey color. Then, afterwards, what I would do is put a small droplet of the work-in-progress into the dish and watch…” 

As you continued to talk, a smile appeared on Carl’s face. He kept his eyes attached to yours, showing that he was listening to you. Rambling on and talking with your hands, you began to look around, a smile on your face the entire time. Carl’s eyes, however, moved from your eyes to your lips. He bit his own uneasily. 

“...the chemicals are about six percent, five percent, twenty percent, thirty-eight-point-five-three percent, two percent, four-point-six percent, fifteen percent, and eight-point-eight-seven percent. However, I think I have way too much ethyl alcohol in the mixture. I mean, it’s doing the job, but it’s not doing the job right. It might be overpowering the other chemicals. I don’t know. I might need to try and-” 

You were interrupted when a pair of lips smashed into yours. A gasp came from your mouth as your eyes shot wide open. It was happening. Carl was kissing you. Your cheeks turned dark red and your heart began to flutter. Your eyes closed lightly and you moved in closer to him. Carl pulled back from you and opened his eye. You opened yours as well and stared at Carl in complete and utter awe. 

_ Oh my God. That just happened. He kissed you! At least he was the one that made a move! _

For a moment, you felt as if the words were caught in your throat. When you were finally able to avert your eyes, your cleared your throat. 

“I…” You cleared it again. “I...um...I really talk a lot, don’t I?” You asked, your voice was shakier and higher than it had been when you were ranting. 

Carl chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I can tell you love talking about that type of stuff.” 

“Well…” You bit your lip. “You did a good job shutting me up.” 

“So, you’re not mad?” Carl asked timidly and bit his lip. 

“Mad? No.” You shook your head. “Not at all mad. Far from it actually. Why would I be mad? I’m not mad.” 

_ Quit rambling! _

“I liked it.” You said. 

“You did?” 

“Yeah.” You smiled. “I’ve...liked you for a while.” 

“I’ve liked you too.” Carl smiled. 

“Well...can….can we kiss again?” 

Carl nodded and smiled. He leaned in, tilting his head to the side, and connected your lips. You closed your eyes, placed your hand on his cheek, a smile appearing on your face as you enjoyed the soft feeling of his lips on yours.

_ You scored, honey. _

Your heart was caught in your throat, beating rapidly, the touches you placed on his cheek was gentle, and you felt completely relaxed. Carl placed one of his hands on your hips while the other ran itself into your hair, his fingers entangling into your locks. When you pulled away, your cheeks were red and you were breathless. 

“I never imagined a kiss felt like that.” You informed him, smiling. 

“It was great.” Carl smiled. 

You nodded lightly. “So...does...does that mean…?” 

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” He asked with brows raised. 

Your heart fluttered and you nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. I would.” 

He smiled widely and kissed the corner of your lips lightly. “Then, yes, that does mean we’re together.” 

“I like the sound of that.” You said and leaned your head against him. 

“Me too.” Carl said, pulling you close. 

  
  


You stayed in Alexandria for another hour before you decided that it would be best to leave and take the supplies home, despite your inner thoughts fighting against you and begging you to stay longer with Carl. 

_ Your boyfriend _

You liked the sound of that. It had a nice ring to it. 

As soon as you decided to leave, Carl led you to your car, hand in hand. The walk was slower than the race to the church and was more relaxing. You found that Carl’s thumb gently ran over your knuckles in a soothing rhythm, which you found to be very adorable and quite comforting. Carl sighed as you got to your car.

“Do you have to go?” 

“Are you going to ask me that every time?” You questioned, raising a brow. 

“Yeah.” He smiled. “Now even more.” He said and pulled you close, placing his hands on your hips. You giggled. 

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I got to.” 

Carl hummed and planted a kiss on your forehead. When he pulled away, you looked at him with a smile on your face. You grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him down, kissing his lips again. Carl’s eye widened, caught by surprise. He then chuckled and kissed you back. 

You pulled away and let out a sigh. “I’ll never get tired of that.” 

“I might.” You heard, making you jump and turn around. 

Rick stood near the car with a bag in his hand, Michonne at his side. A blush appeared on your cheeks. 

“I swear...I...did..n’t….maybe I...there is a large possibility...it...wasn’t...yes. I did just kiss your son.” 

Rick smiled and shook his head. “I knew it was going to happen sooner or later?” 

“What?” You asked with furrowed brows. 

“Yeah, we knew about his little crush before he did.” Michonne pointed out. 

“Wait, wait, so…” You trailed. You then pointed at Michonne. “You knew about his crush on me and you didn’t tell me? What about the girl code? Something...like..thou shalt telleth if friend is being likethed?” 

Michonne smiled a bright, white smile and laughed. Rick handed you a bag. “Here.” He said. “We have some other medicines that we can’t use. You might like them.” 

“Wow, thanks.” You smiled. 

“Not a problem.” He placed his hands on his weapon belt. “Now, since you two are involved with each other, well, I don’t think we have to tell you two to be smart and safe, do we?”

“Oh, you don’t need to tell us.” You waved him off and shook your head. “We don’t go outside the walls.” 

Rick looked at you and raised a brow. He chuckled. ‘That’s not what I meant.” 

You glanced at him with a confused expression. “Then what did you…?” You looked down, thinking through what he could have meant. Once the thought hit you, your eyes widened and you glanced back at Rick. ‘Oh!” You blushed. “Yeah, I gotta go.” You gestured to the car and rapidly got inside of your SUV. You closed the door and set the medication to the side. “I would stay longer, but you just made it awkward.” You pointed to Rick. He shook his head. 

“I’ll see ‘ya (Y/N).” He said. He and Michonne moved away from the car. Rick gestured for Rosita to open up the gate. 

You glanced down at Carl. “I’ll talk to you tonight.” You told him.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.” He said, climbed up onto the car and kissed your cheek before moving away from the vehicle. 

It took you no time to turn the car around so that it was facing the outside world. As one last gesture towards Carl, you blew him a kiss and smile. He shook his head and chuckled, watching as you left the protection of Alexandria. 

With Alexandria fading into the distance, you couldn’t help but think about Carl. The smile on your face was wide, your cheeks were red, and a small giggle or chuckle couldn’t help but escape from your throat every now and then. For once, your mind wasn’t even thinking about the cure and the research back at home - not even a little bit - but rather fully focused on Carl and the Alexandrians and the fight that they were facing against the Saviors. From what you heard, Negan and his men were dangerous, deadly, and horrifying. You didn’t want anything to happen to the people of Alexandria. You didn’t want anything to happen to Carl. 

A sigh fell from your lips. “Fuck the research.” You told yourself. 

Your new objective was making sure that the people of Alexandria, the Hilltop and the Kingdom were safe. A friend of Carl’s is a friend of yours. Carl’s family is your family. They were  _ all _ your family and you were determined to keep your family safe from harm’s way. 


	5. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader has developed some new weapons for the group of Alexandria to try out.

The sky above looked angry, gray clouds hovering above the Virginia land. You knew that you needed to hurry your testing session up before the rain started to pour. There was a cache of weapons in the back of your SUV, spread out evenly, including a knife, arrows, a sword, bullets, and other weapons, some of which have been modified in different ways. In the distance, there sat a small gathering of walkers that wandered here and there - a great source of practice for your newly developed armory.

Rick, Carl, Daryl, Michonne, and Maggie were on their way out to the small field that you were settled in. A part of you was nervous that you were going to be able to meet the woman from the Hilltop, but from what Carl and many others have told you, she was strong and has been through many different traumatic events. That she was reliable. From the way that they made her sound, she was someone to be feared and a great ally. Hopefully she accepted you into the group like Rick had. 

A clap of thunder was heard in the distance. You turned, seeing the bright flash of lightning. “Shit,” You mumbled. Walking to the car, you got into the driver’s side and grabbed the walkie talkie from the cupholder. You clicked the red button. “Hey, guys. You’re gonna need to hurry up. The rain’s coming faster than I thought.” 

Silence. 

“Hello?” 

Silence. 

“Earth to Rick. I need an answer.” 

More silence.

You sighed. “I swear to God, Rick. Stop being a dick!” 

Mere seconds later, Rick’s voice poured through the speaker. “Calm down, (Y/N). We’re almost there.” 

You rolled your eyes. “Well, when I don’t get an answer, you start worrying me.”

Carl spoke that time. “Sorry, (Y/N). We didn’t mean to worry you.” 

A sweet, gentle smile appeared on your lips. “It’s alright, Carl. I’m just glad you guys are alright. Be careful and I’ll see you in a minute.” 

Setting the walkie talkie down in the cupholder, you left the car, shutting the driver’s side door. Standing near the open cache, you crossed your arms and waited. 

Not even five minutes later, two vehicles pulled up behind your SUV. One of them contained Rick, Carl, Daryl, and Michonne, while the other one had a woman as the driver. You figured that it was Maggie. As she got out of the car, you finally got a good look at her appearance. She had short brown hair that cascaded down her cheeks, a determined look etched on her features. Maggie was tall, thin, and had a strong stance. The group of individuals walked over to you. 

“Hey,” Carl said as he walked closer to you, pulling you into a hug. 

You blushed brightly, hugging him back. “Hey, missed you.” You whispered into his ear, kissing his cheek. 

“Missed you too.” He said, pulling away, smirk on his face. He turned to the rest of the group. 

Rick glanced at you. “(Y/N),” he began. “This is Maggie.” He gestured with his head. “She runs the Hilltop.” 

You walked over to her and held out your hand. “How do you do?” 

Maggie shook your hand gently. “You’re just a kid.” 

“Don’t underestimate her, Maggie, she’s really smart.” Michonne told her, raising her brows. “She stitched up Rick’s side without any form of practice.” 

“Well, at least that means she can provide for us.” Maggie said. “When Rick told me that you had created some weapons, I had to come out and see them.” 

You nodded. “Yeah, um...but we need to take some necessary precautions.” 

“Precautions?” Rick furrowed his brows. “Why would we need to do that?” 

You backed up, walking over to the back seat of the car. You pulled out a pile of vests and masks. “Because I haven’t necessarily...um...tested out any of the weapons, so I have no idea what is going to happen when I actually work with these.” 

Rick frowned. “You’ve never tested them?” 

“Nope!” You walked over to them and handed them all bullet proof vests and masks. “The worst thing that could happen is that we call get burnt to a crisp or...blown up.” 

“(Y/N)...” 

“Calm down, calm down. We’ll be doing it to walkers at a safe enough distance. Maybe...I don’t know.” 

“I don’t really like where this is going.” Carl mumbled and took the vest, putting it on. He placed the mask on his face. 

“Trust me…” You chuckled and then paused. “No...no, you probably shouldn’t trust me.” 

Rick rolled his eyes. Maggie stood next to him with arms crossed over one another, studying your every movement. You walked to the back of the car and stared down at the weapons. 

“Which one first?” You whispered to yourself, rubbing your hands before you picked up a pistol. “Old blue.” 

You walked over to the group and revealed the pistol - .45 Caliber M1911. The group examined it, narrowing their eyes, trying to find something different that you had done to the weapon. 

“This is a .45 M1911. Extremely famous during World War II with the United States. I didn’t do anything to the gun, I just messed with the bullets, taking it apart and practically making them into even more powerful bombs. You know how handguns aren’t as powerful as shotguns?” They all nodded in acknowledgement. “Well, this is more powerful than any shotgun ever created. I mean….if it works. Maggie? You wanna give it a go?” 

“I don’t wanna risk it.” She said. 

You hummed. “You’re probably right.” You mumbled. “Alright, go ahead and take cover. All of you. I’ll test this out on the nearest walker. What  _ should _ happen is that once the bullet hits, it gives a strong explosion that spreads about...five or six feet all around the target. So these are mostly for longer distances.” 

“(Y/N),” Carl caught your arm. “Are you sure it’s alright?” 

You paused. “Yeah. Kind of. Not really.” You waved him off. “Trust me...enough. Just get next to your father.” 

Carl let his arm drop and he sighed. He walked over to Rick and the group stood by one another. You walked about three feet out in front of your car. You inhaled shakily, worry filling you. A part of you had a feeling that the test was going to be flawless, but you still had those concerns that sat in the pit of your stomach. You cocked the gun and hesitated before aiming it at your selected walker - the one that was closest to you. Taking a sharp breath in, you shot the gun, cringing as you did so. It took three seconds for the bullet to reach the walker. 

The bullet soared through the air and went straight into the walker’s stomach. The male growled and lifted his head. You frowned and slumped your shoulders at the lack of action. A sigh escaped your lips. 

“Fuck.” You grumbled, staring at the gun. 

Before you could turn to the group, the walker erupted, guts and rotten flesh flying in every other direction, grass shifting from the impact of the explosion. You gasped and smiled, covering your mouth. 

“Oh my God!” You cheered and ran over to the group. “Did you see that!?” 

They stared in awe at the spot where the walker had been. The remaining undead that were in the field began to stumble towards the spot where the walker vanished from. 

“How did you do that?’ Maggie asked, Southern accent sweet and filled with confusion and awe. 

“I could spend hours explaining my process but I have other weapons that I wanna try.” You started to giggle happily, walking over to the car. You set the gun inside the back and grabbed the large sword that was sheathed in a metal cover. “I think you’ll like this one Michonne!” You said and walked over to them. 

You took the sword out of the metal covering and exposed it to the air. It was silver and bright, flame-like designs decorating the blade. The handle was thicker than it had been before you began working on it and had a small switch - created from a thick, old light switch - on the right side of the handle. 

“I call this bad boy Diablo - meaning Satan in spanish. Or Devil. Something like that. I don’t speak spanish. I’m a genius, not bilingual.” You rolled your eyes. “Anyway, so, what I did was soak the blade in gasoline for, oh, three hours. Then, while that was happening, I rigged the handle with a little device that is similar to that of a lighter. See, if it does work, then what should happen is, when I flip this switch, it should light it on fire.” 

“That sounds like some fantasy shit.” Daryl said. 

“Like something from my comic book.” Carl commented. 

“Kind of.” You backed up. “Let’s see…” You moved the broadsword away from the group. You closed one eye and bit your lip before you flicked the switch on. 

The blade was engulfed in flame. Everyone, even yourself, was in awe. You turned it off, the flame slowly fading away. You continued to giggle. 

“Oh my God. That’s so damn cool.” You said. “Michonne, you wanna try it?” 

Michonne glanced at Rick, who gave her a small shrug. She walked over to you and took the sword from you. Hesitantly, she turned it on, blade covered in fire. Michonne stared at the metal, eyes burning from the sight of the fire. She glanced at you. 

“Do you mind if I try it out?” 

“Be my guest.” You bowed. 

Michonne walked away from the group a little, taking swings of the sword, watching the flames dance in the air, making small designs as they went around. It was as if Michonne was weilding an oversized sparkler. The other members of the group watched before Maggie walked over to the car and examined the rest of the weapons. She hummed. 

“Daryl, I think there’s something in here for you.” Maggie said, picking up an arrow from a bag. You glanced back at her. Just as she was about to prick the arrowhead with the tip of her finger, you rushed over and snatched it from her hands. 

“Don’t do that!” You said, shaking your head. “You could’ve been killed.” 

“By an arrowhead? Is there poison on them?” 

You snorted. “Please. You think I’m  _ that _ cliche? No. What I have hopefully done is created an arrow that allows for detonation among first contact with human or walker.” Maggie opened up her mouth to speak, but you held up your hand to halt the question that you knew she was going to ask. “What I tried to do was create something that calculated when blood came in contact with it before it exploded. But, of course, we won’t know unless we try it out. Daryl!” You turned around. “I saw you got a little crossbow, do you wanna try it out?” 

Daryl stared at the arrow. It was thin, straight, and pointed at the end. To him, it looked like any one of his regular arrows. He grabbed the crossbow that rested on his back and loaded the arrow into it. Michonne walked back over to you, sword blade red from the flame. She had turned it off and gave it to you. You sheathed it and placed it back into your car. You then walked back to the group and watched as Daryl walked to the spot that Michonne was in whilst swinging the flame sword.

Daryl Dixon lifted the crossbow, muscles flexing with the action. His eyes were attached intensely to one of the female walkers that were getting rather close to the last explosion area. Inhaling deeply, then exhaling, Daryl pulled the trigger, sending the arrow flying through the air and straight into the brain of the walker - damn, Daryl was a pretty good shot. Immediately, the walker fell. Not long after, however, the arrow exploded, not only the walker that had been shot, but two others around it. Your eyes widened and you covered your mouth, silently cheering and shimmying slightly. Carl glanced at you and smirked, chuckled, and walked over to you. He kissed your cheek. 

“(Y/N),” Rick began and walked over to you. “These weapons will change everything. I can never thank you enough.” 

Your ears became red with embarrassment. You smiled and rubbed the back of your neck. “Aw, it was nothing.” 

_ “Really.” _ Rick said. “Thank you.” 

You shrugged. “You’re welcome, Rick. I mean...I’m here to do anything to help. You guys are practically my family, now, and I don’t wanna see  _ anything _ happen to you.” 

“How long do you think it will take you to make more of these?” Rick asked. 

You bit your lip. “The bullets? Two hours per bullet, at most. The sword, there is no way I am going to be able to make another one of those. It took, about, five hours to make. The arrows, though. I could probably make five...per day.” 

Rick sighed lightly and rubbed the back of his head. 

“And that is also not including the limited amount of supplies that I have right now. I don’t even think I can make six bullets. I have eleven right now. I can probably make two arrows if I’m being completely honest. They were really complex.” You rubbed the back of your head. “Um….yeah.” 

“If you give us a list of supplies, then we will be on the lookout for them.” Rick nodded, placing one hand in his pocket. 

You glanced up into his eyes, giving him a small nod. “I’ll have to go home first,” you said. “Just so I can make it, then I can give it to you tomorrow when we start the fortification.” 

“Fortification?’ Maggie asked, walking towards you. 

Turning your attention towards her, you nodded. “Yeah. Walls aren’t going to keep Negan out, especially with the walls that Alexandria has. The barbed wire is cute, but let’s face it: cars are going to go straight through that sucker.” As you talked, Carl snaked his arm around your waist, pulling you close. “We need to figure out a plan to make the walls thicker and deeper into the ground, which will require a lot of planning and resources….which we probably don’t have, but it’s worth a shot.” 

“All the Hilltop has is walls and we’re doing alright.” She said. 

“For now, at least. But if the Hilltop because the center point for a battle, you bet that those walls are going to fall like the Roman Empire.” You shrugged. “I’m just saying. If we are going to fight against the Saviors, then we need some place that is going to be durable and safe. Especially with Judith being there, we need to make it as secure as we possibly can.” 

“(Y/N)’s right,” Rick began. “Our walls fell once. We know that they’re not the strongest, but we have to make them stronger. I trust that she already has some ideas?” 

“Oh yeah.” You chuckled deeply, rubbing your hands together maniacally. 

Rick shook his head. “Can we take the weapons back to Alexandria?” 

“You sure can. I also have a couple of other things for you guys.” You walked over to the car. “Oh, by the way, don’t let anyone else touch the weapons unless you go into a…” You counted on your fingers. “Seven minute and thirty-five second discussion on what they do and how to use them.” 

“That’ll take seven minutes?” Michonne questioned. 

“Yep. One and a half minutes to tell them how to use them and the remaining time to tell them how stupid they will be if they mess anything up.” You smiled. 

Michonne laughed and shook her head. Carl smiled brightly. You winked at him before turning back to your car. You brought out the arrows. 

“Daryl, why don’t you give these a  _ shot _ .” You gave him the bag of arrows. Daryl rolled his eyes and grabbed them. You then picked up the sword. “Here’s your sizzly sword, Michonne.” She grabbed it. “Rick, here are the packs of bullets.” You handed him the box filled with rigged bullets. “Carl, I made this knife for you.” 

“A knife? What does it do?” 

“Um...stab things.” You opened the knife. “It has two blades on it.” You smiled. 

Carl rolled his eyes, chuckled, and then accepted the gift, closing it and putting it into his pocket. You glanced at Maggie and hummed. “Luckily I  _ do _ have something for you.” You said and reached in, grabbing two sickles that were stored away. You glanced at the sharp blades. “I didn’t do anything to them, I just think they’re cool. I have one more at home. This should give a clean cut.” You handed her the blades. 

Maggie accepted the sickles. “Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate you helping us. You seem like you really know what you’re doing.” 

“Thanks.” You said and closed the trunk. 

Maggie examined the blades, a small hint of reminiscence dancing in her eyes. Lightning flashed in the distance and a clap of thunder followed. Maggie turned to Rick. “I think I should go.” She said, taking the vest and mask off, setting both of them inside the car. “I shouldn’t leave Gregory there for more than two hours without me looking after him.” 

Rick nodded. “Thank you for coming.” 

“Thank you for inviting me.” She smiled. “I’ll see you around, Rick.” 

They all watched as Maggie got into the car and backed out, vanishing from sight. Rick then turned to the rest of his group. “I think we should go back, too.” He said. “Thanks for everything, (Y/N).” 

“You’re welcome.” You responded. 

Rick nodded. The group took off their masks and vests, placing them into the car where Maggie had set hers. Afterwards, the four of them began to head towards the car. You shook your head. 

“Carl,” You smiled. Carl turned his head to look at you and you gestured him over with your index finger. He smirked and walked over to you. “You think you can just leave without giving me a goodbye kiss?” 

“I was just waiting for you to ask for one.” He said. 

Your back was pressed against the car, facing him. His body was mere inches from being right on top of yours. He laced his fingers around yours in a sweet way. 

“I shouldn’t have to ask for one, Grimes.” 

Carl chuckled. “And I shouldn’t have to wait for you to ask.” 

You snorted. “Just come here, you idiot.” You said, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing him gently. 

Carl kissed back without any hesitation, closing his eye, hands resting on your waist. The kiss was sweet, romantic, and sensual. He pulled away slowly and hesitantly, looking into your eyes sweetly. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said. 

“Alright, Romeo.” You said. “But I will talk to you tonight.” 

Carl raised his brows. “You’re right. You  _ will _ talk to me tonight.” 

You giggled. “Now go play with your new present.” 

“Alright, bye.” He kissed your cheek before moving over to the car. He got in the back with Daryl, Michonne joining Rick in the front seat. 

You cheeks heated up as you watched them drive away. You waved at them, seeing the car vanish just like Maggie’s had. A sigh escaped you. Part two of your plan to help Alexandria: get a plan together to help Alexandria. A part of you had a plan that you wanted to use to fortify the walls, but some of it was just hopeful dreaming. Throughout the night, you knew, you had to find a way to help Rick and his people - especially Carl - live throughout the war they were fighting. 

As you were getting into the car, you felt a small drop hit your forehead. You cringed and touched it, seeing the water run down your finger. You sighed and got inside, watching as the windshield became littered with rain droplets. Hurrying out of the field, you traveled South down the road to the place that you called home.  


	6. Fortification

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after giving the Alexandrians a range of upgraded weapons, the reader has decided to make a visit in order to discuss the fence and the watchtowers with Rick.

The rain had let up some time in the middle of the night. When you awoke, the outside was still dull, gray clouds decorating the sky and the road a darker color with the remnants of the water that rested inside of it. That morning, you ate eggs on toast - which was sadly burnt, but you didn’t mind - before leaving the safety of the hospital in order to get into your car. You turned on the vehicle, hearing the roar of the engine, and pulled out of the parking space, making your way to the bottom of the parking garage.

The weather was perfect, enough so that you could roll down the window. The air was slightly chilled, sending goosebumps riding up your arms. The hairs on the back of your neck stood up straight. You got out of your car and typed in the code to the machine. The gates slowly opened up and you got back into the car, driving out of the parking garage before watching the gates close behind you. Afterwards, you began your journey to Alexandria. 

Your hair flew back and out of your face as you drove, a smile plastered on your lips. Throughout the night, you had thought about different ways that you could help the Alexandrians buttress the walls around the community. The plans were resting in the back of your head, ready to be told to Rick and his crew. The supplies that you needed were simple enough to hopefully be able to retrieve within the world. Some of the ideas that you had were complex and rather difficult to do within a short period of time, but the other ideas that you had within your head were practical and uncomplicated. 

The route that you take in order to get to Alexandria was one that you had driven dozens of times. It was something that you had gotten used to. You drove a bit faster than you figured the normal legal limit would be, but to you it didn't matter. It would take an idiot to crash the car on a street that is not only empty of other vehicles, but of walkers as well. 

Due to your speed, it didn’t take long before the gates of Alexandria were visible. Tara was on watch that day. You could see a smile on her face as well. Tara turned around, yelled something to someone behind her, and then you saw the gate slowly begin to open. Daryl was the one that opened the gate. You drove through, parked the car inside, and turned the vehicle off. You barely had enough time to step onto the ground before you were practically picked up, crushed in a deadly hug. 

You gasped and raised your brows. Looking up, you saw Carl with a wide smile on his face. You giggled lightly, blushing as you wrapped your arms around your boyfriend. 

“I missed you too, Carl.” You chuckled. Carl hummed and tightened his grip on you. “I can’t breath.” You croaked out. 

Carl opened his eye and raised his brow. He let go and chuckled. “Sorry,” he said and kissed your nose. “I’m just so happy to see you.” 

“It’s been less than twenty-four hours.” 

“Still, I’ve missed you.” 

“I’ve missed you too.” You chuckled. “But I’m here on business.” You closed the front door of your car. “Where’s Rick?” 

“He’s doing inventory right now.” He said. “Dad says that he’s really looking forward to seeing what you had in mind. I am too if I’m being honest.” 

“Well,” you said as you began to make your way to the cache, Carl following right beside you. “Some of the stuff that I have in mind is simple and they are just going to make the walls stronger. The materials are minimal as well. However, I also have some ideas that we could do that would require a lot of work. Like, futuristic, 2058 stuff.” 

“Is it even possible?” Carl chuckled. 

You nodded. ‘Heck yeah, with a lot of time, dedication and brains. Considering I have all of the brians, this should be easy for the rest of you.” Your tone of voice was light and whimsical. 

Carl smiled and elbowed you gently. “Hey,” he smirked, chuckling. “Some of us are actually pretty smart.” 

“I know you are, baby, I know you are.” You reached up and kissed his nose, chuckling. “I’m just smarter than you.” 

Carl rolled his eye. “Don’t need to rub it in.” 

You glanced at him and stuck your tongue out before you entered the cache. Inside, Rick had a clipboard in his hand, taking count of all the inventory that was inside. When he heard the pair of footsteps approach him, he raised his brows and glanced at you and Carl. He scribbled some words down on the paper before he set the clipboard down onto a shelf. He then glanced at the two of them, turning to face you. 

“Good morning, (Y/N).” Rick said. 

“Good morning, Rick. Are you busy?” You asked, raising your brows. “Because I have some simple ideas for improving this place.” 

“No, I just finished.” He said. “The sooner that we get this done, the better it’ll be. 

“Alright then,” you said and rubbed your hands together. “Come on, let me show you my ideas.” 

You gestured towards the door, using your full arm to do so. Carl and Rick followed you out of the room. The wind had seemed to pick up. Glancing up at the sky, you knew that the storms were not done with. If the wind stayed the same speed, however, it would be over faster than normal. Rick, Carl, and you walked near your car, keeping a good distance so that you could gesture to the fence. 

“Alrighty then,” you began. “So, what I was thinking is - and this may be a little bit hard, but we have other options, but this is just what I think is best. What I’m thinking is that we dig underneath the actual fence, keeping the hole on this side and then push the fence down so that it is embedded into the actual ground to make it sturdier, and then put more metal pieces on top of the already existing fence. Sounds tedious, but it’ll work.” 

Rick glanced at the fence and thought assiduously about the idea. He ran his hand down his chin, humming before he looked back at you. “What other plans do you have? Something that might work until we can find the time and tools to do that one.” 

“Well, what I was also thinking is building the layers of the fence. Ya’ know, instead of having just one piece of metal, putting another one right behind it and maybe putting it into the ground to at least give  _ that _ one some durability. And then, maybe, we could continue to add the layers as well. Um…” you trailed. “Another thing that we could do is use metal beams instead of wooden beams to hold them. At least, after that, they would be able to take the force of, you know, a vehicle if that were to happen.” 

Rick nodded in understanding. “I think that should work.” He said. “Do you think that you can draw up a plan and a list of supplies?” 

“Of course, Rick,” you said. “As long as you can give me the actual length of all the sides of the fence and I will be able to calculate the exact amount of material that you’ll need in order to do the whole fence.” 

“If you can take a piece of paper and sketch out something or give a basic blueprint, then that will help. Then Daryl and I will get the total length of the fence and then give it back to you, alright?” 

A smile appeared on your face. “Great. Do you mind if I use your house in order to make the blueprint?” 

“No, no, go right ahead.” Rick nodded. 

“Thanks.” You beamed. “I’ll go ahead and get that drawn right up for you.” 

With that, you turned and headed towards the Grimes house. Hearing footsteps behind you, you automatically knew that Carl was following you. Glancing back at him, you gave him a small smile. Carl returned your smile and walked closer to you. He reached out, grabbing your hand, gently rubbing his thumb against your knuckles. A blush crept onto your cheeks, spreading down to your neck, turning your skin a delicate shade of crimson. 

You and Carl entered the house. From the living room, you heard toys being moved around. Glancing in there, you saw Michonne playing with plastic toys, Judith sitting on the floor in front of her. Michonne turned her head and smiled when she saw you. 

“Hey, (Y/N).” She said. Judith glanced up at the sound of your name, waved her tiny hand, and then went right back to playing with her toys. 

“Hey, Michonne.” You called. “I’ll be in the kitchen drawing up a blueprint!” 

“There’s some paper, pencils, and crayons around Judith’s room. That would be the best thing you can use.” 

“Thanks!” You turned to Carl. “You coming with?” 

“I know where they are.” He said, hand resting on your hip. “I’ll go ahead and grab them. You go wait in the kitchen.” 

“How sweet.” You chuckled. “Thanks.” 

Carl gave a small nod as he left the room, making his way upstairs to the nursery while you turned and went into the kitchen. You walked over to the dark oak dining table and sat down, one foot placed underneath your rear on the chair while the other one sat flat on the ground. It didn’t take long before you heard footsteps come down the stairs, followed by Carl entering the room with a small stack of copy paper and different colored crayons that had been decently worn from the toddler. He set them on the table in front of you before he took a seat beside you. 

“There you go,” he said with a smile on his lips. 

“Thank you.” 

You picked up the black crayon, bringing a single piece of paper closer to you. You began to - amateurly - sketch out the ideas you had for creating the fence. You drew a view from inside the fence, outside the fence, as well as a bird’s eye view. Afterwards, you figured that you would finish the blueprints off with some calculations once Rick and Daryl gave you the exact measurements of the perimeter. You grabbed the blueprints, stared at it for a couple of seconds, and then set it to the side before grabbing another piece of paper. With a different color, you began to sketch out a seperate idea for fortification - something that was not necessarily needed, but would look badass. Carl tilted his head, trying to get a good look at what you were creating. 

“What is that?” He asked. 

You glanced at him, blushing at the close proximity between the two of you. You turned back to the paper and exposed it to your boyfriend. From the looks of it, it kind of looked like a box with legs. This caused him to glance at you with an expression of great confusion. 

“I’m just making small sketches for ideas that I had for the lookout near the gate.” You said. “I was kind of thinking that we could take some metal and make a small building out of it and we can use the glass from some of the rooms in the hospital in order to make windows.” 

Carl nodded. “I like that idea,” he commented. “We had something similar like that at our old camp. We were at a prison.” 

“You were at a prison!?” You said with eyes wide. “That is so cool!” 

“Yeah, but...it kind of got burnt down.” 

“Oh...that’s not so cool.” You mumbled, biting your lip lightly as you turned back to the paper. “Oh!” You began to make an outline of the birds eye view of the lookout and smiled to yourself. “What we could also do is make a walkway all the way around it, and then maybe make a top layer so that we can be higher and see farther than we already see! I just need to get the measurements. We can also set up more towers like this around the Alexandria and then…” you trailed as you turned and glanced at Carl. 

Carl’s expression was confusing to you. You had no idea how to read him. You furrowed your brows. Carl had a smirk on his face and his eyes were reading something that you couldn’t quite decipher. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Carl said nothing. 

A smile crept onto the corners of your lips. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Again, he said nothing. 

You turned your body to his, the smile only widening on your lips. “ _ Why _ are you looking at me like that?” 

“You have no idea just how much I would love to kiss you right now.” 

The comment alone made you blush, the red tinge spreading from your cheeks to your neck and, without a doubt, to your chest as well. You simply licked your lips, glancing at Carl in the eye that worked. You opened your mouth, trying to find the words that you so desperately wanted to speak, but you found that you couldn’t form them. Your tongue wouldn’t let you. 

Finally, you shook your head and the sound came back to your throat. “Ugh…” you trialed. “Yeah, go ahead.” 

Carl chuckled as he reached his right hand up, pressing it against your cheek delicately. You and him both leaned forward, pressing your lips against one another, yours more lightly and his more dominantly. You closed your eyes instinctively, humming into the kiss. As you continued the act, you found yourself moving towards the edge of the seat and Carl moved his chair closer to you until your knees were pressed against one another. 

Carl poked his tongue out of his mouth, running it against your lower lip. You opened your mouth intuitively and Carl snaked his tongue past your lips. You whimpered upon feeling Carl’s tongue brush against yours. Lacing your fingers into his long, brown locks, you tilted your head in order to kiss him deeper. 

Before the kiss could go on any longer, the front door opened and two pairs of footsteps were heard coming towards the kitchen. Immediately, the two of you parted and moved away slightly. You turned back towards the paper and grabbed another crayon, continuing to sketch the lookout post. 

As soon as Rick and Daryl entered the room, Rick began to give you figures. You immediately grabbed the other sheet of paper, writing down the numbers and then humming. Rick and Daryl then walked over and glanced at the sketches while you began to do your conversions and make your supply list on a seperate sheet of paper. 

Rick gestured to the sentry. “What’s this?” 

You lifted your head and began to open your mouth, but Carl was the one that began to explain it for you. Once he did so, you glanced down at your sheet, gave Rick a thumbs up, and went back to your conversions. 

“It’s an upgrade for the outlook near the gate.” Carl told his father. “It’s kind of like what we had at the Prison.” 

Rick gave a small nod. “Would we be able to do it?” 

“We would use the exact same items that we would be using for the fence,” you chimed in, setting the crayon back onto the table and standing. “It’ll just add on some supplies. I will need to go out and measure the watchtower as well.” 

“Why don’t we go ahead and focus on the wall before anything else.” 

You gave Rick a nod. “Alright, well, here are all the supplies that we need. If those are the exact measurements that you have given me, then these are definitely the most accurate numbers that I can give you. Plus, it would be great if we find some more of the supplies.” 

“Do you think that you have some supplies at the hospital?” 

“It’s a high possibility. I’ll make a copy of the list for me so that I can keep a look out and search around the hospital.” 

“That would be great.” Rick nodded as you copied the list and gave Rick the original. You folded the paper and placed it into your pocket. 

“You leaving?” Carl asked. 

A smile broke out onto your face. “No, I still have a couple of things that I want to measure before I go and start finding the supplies. Do you wanna come with me?”

Carl smiled and nodded, standing up. “Yeah.” 

You gave a small nod before you turned to Rick. “Can I have whatever you used to get the measurements from the wall?” 

Daryl gave you a small nod before he reached back and grabbed a measuring tape that was hooked onto his belt and handed it to you. You took it and examined it before you hooked it onto your own belt. You grabbed a black crayon to later take notes on for the measurements of the watchtower. You then turned to Carl and gestured with your head towards the door that lead out of the kitchen. Wordlessly, Carl walked over to you and grabbed your hand in his and the two of you made your way out of the house and to the gate. 

Tara still stood on watch, gun in hand and eyes fixated on the world outside of the gates. The only time when she turned around was when you knocked on the wooden legs three times with your knuckles. Tara glanced back and then down at you and Carl. 

“Do you mind if I do some measuring around you?” You asked with an innocent smile. 

Tara shrugged and then nodded. “Yeah, sure,” she said. “Go ahead.” Tara then turned her attention back to the road. 

A smile crept onto your face as you looked at Carl. You pulled out the edge of the tape measurer and handed it to Carl. “Here, hold this.” You told him. He obliged and took the end of the device into his hand. You then began to climb up the ladder. Carl stayed on the ground. You reached the top of the tower soon and then hummed. “Alright, babe, so I need you to walk out that way a little bit.” You told him, pointing in the direction that you wanted him to walk him. “And I’ll tell you when to stop.” 

“Got it.” Carl said as he began to slowly walk backwards, checking behind him every now and then. 

You watched the tape measure slowly rise in numbers. From inches - which were the red numbers - to feet - which were represented in black. The numbers slowly rose. Once the tape hit twenty-five feet, you raised one hand. “Stop.” You said. 

Carl stood still and you set the measuring tape down, placing your foot on top of it in order to get a good look at the distance. A thoughtful hum fell from your lips. You then moved the measuring tape back so that it was against the fence the tower was connected to. 

“Twenty-seven-point-three-eight-five….nine.” You said. “Alright, twenty-seven-point-three-eight-five-nine by twenty-seven-point-three-eight-five-nine? How does that sound? Make it all even? And I think we could leave about two-point-three-eight-five-nine feet off so that we can make it a pretty spread out walkway? Or do you think we need more room?” 

“Whatever you think, (Y/N).” Carl told you.

You pulled the crayon and piece of paper out of your pocket, writing down the measurements. Once you finished, you put them back in your jeans. “Go ahead and let go of the measuring tape.” Carl did so, dropping it onto the ground. 

You picked up the base of the tape and began to reel in the rest of it. Afterwards, you looked at Tara. Now, it was time for you to measure wall heights and you needed some sort of volunteer. Whoever was the tallest out of the two of them was going to be your guinea pig. 

“Tara,” you began. “How tall are you?” 

Tara glanced back at you with furrowed brows before she thought about it. “About five-six, why?” 

Without answering, you turned to Carl, glancing down at him. “How tall are you, Carl?” 

Carl furrowed his brows. “Ugh…” he trailed and shrugged. “I don’t know. I think five-five. Something along those lines? Why?” 

“I need a volunteer and since Tara is taller I need to use her.” 

“No way Tara is taller than me.” 

It was then that a playful smirk appeared on Tara’s face. She pulled back from her previous stance, turning to you and Carl. Raising your brows, your glanced down at Carl, a small smirk appearing on the corner of your lips. 

“Do you wanna come up here and see who’s taller?” 

“I bet I’m taller than you, squirt.” Tara joked. 

Carl grumbled underneath his breath before he responded. “Yeah! I’m coming up!”

Carl began to climb up the ladder until he was standing next to you and Tara. You smiled, chuckling. “Alright,” you began. “Go ahead and stand back to back.” 

Carl and Tara both turned around, backing up so that their backs were touching. The two of them stood up straight, shoulders out and the heels of their feet pressed against one another. You then stood next to them, studying where their heads met. You studied the height and it was a rather close call between the two of them. They were practically the same size. However, there was a quarter of an inch difference between the two of them with Tara beating Carl. You hissed and bit your lip. You placed your hand on top of Carl’s shoulder. 

“You’re still tall to me, baby.” You said. 

Carl glanced at you and frowned. He turned around and so did Tara. Carl stood up straight and so did Tara. She smirked. 

“Sorry to tell you, Carl, but Tara is taller than you by less than quarter of an inch.” 

“Then how can you tell?” 

“Because it’s an obvious difference. Sorry,” you kissed his nose lightly. You grabbed the measuring tape on your hip.  “Alright Tara, can you stand near the edge? I swear I won’t push you off.” 

“Sure,” Tara walked over to the edge, standing so that her heels were almost levitating off the ground. 

You dropped the tape onto the floor of the tower and began to lift the yellow tape with the black and red numbers up and above your head. You tried your best to keep it steady as you lifted it above everyone’s heads, waiting until the black numbers read ‘ten feet’ and then you stopped, studying the height different. You hummed. 

“I like that height,” you said, turning to Carl. “What do you think?” 

Carl glanced up, eying the placement of the tape. He nodded in agreement. “I think that should be good.” He nodded. 

“Alright,” you began to put the yellow tape back into the case. “So if we have four-point-seven-seven-one-eight in length as the walkway, then that means we have twenty-two-point-six-one-four-one by twenty-two-point-six-one-four-one for the actual structure.” 

Carl stared at you, slowly nodding. Tara raised her brows. “Wow,” she said. “You figured that out in your head?” 

“Yeah, it’s simple subtraction.” 

“But you had...like...decimals and a lot of numbers.” 

“It’s simple subtraction.” You said with a cocked brow. 

Tara shook her head. “Go be smart somewhere else.” She shooed you and Carl before going back to her previous position. 

You raised your hands in surrender. A smile appeared. “Alright, you heard her Carl.” You gestured towards the ladder. “We shall take our leave.” 

Tara chuckled and rolled her eyes. You and Carl departed from the watchtower. “Did you get everything that you needed?” Carl asked whilst you were climbing down the ladder. 

You gave him a nod in confirmation. “Yeah. Let me write it down, though.” Pulling the paper and crayon from your jean pocket, you began to write down the measurements. From the looks of it, with the help of the cheap and old crayon, it looked as if a child had written the numbers. It was sloppy, yet legible. “There.” You said and placed the paper into your pocket, giving Carl the crayon. 

A frown spread across his lips. His shoulders slumped as he glanced at you. “You’re going already?” He asked. 

You sighed. “Afraid so, Carl,” you said. “I wish I could stay longer, but I need to start finding material to help keep this place safe. To help keep  _ you _ safe. Judith too.” 

Carl followed your words with a sigh of his own. He grabbed your hands and kissed them, his lips brushing lightly against the back of them. You blushed. “One of these days, I want the two of us to spend some time together.  _ Just _ the two of us and for  _ longer _ than five minutes.” 

“Of course,” you said. “That means you have to ask me out on a date.” 

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” 

“When and where?” 

“Here and now?” 

“Carl,” you groaned. 

“Whenever you’re open.” 

“Much better,” you chuckled and kissed his cheek. “And I’ll see what I can do.” 

“Don’t keep me waiting  _ too _ long.” 

“Oh, shut up.” 

“Make me.”

“Gladly.” 

Cupping his cheeks, you connected your lips with Carl’s, closing your eyes. Instinctively, Carl wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer so that the front of your body was flushed against his. The way that his lips felt against yours made your mind spin, heart race, and caused arms to sprout goosebumps. Your lips were morphed against one another, fitting perfectly together like the last piece of a puzzle. 

A noise reverberated off of the tower, causing the two of you to pull apart and look up. Tara was staring down at you. “Hey!” She called. “No smooching underneath the lookout!” 

“My bad, Tara!” You called out before you stuck your tongue out. Tara stuck hers out as well before she went back to her spot. You turned to Carl. “Walk me to my car?” 

“Of course,” he answered and grabbed your hand lightly, thumb coming up to stroke your knuckles before the two of you walked to your car. 

“If Rick needs anything - supplies, calculations or whatnot - then have him give me a call on the walkie.” 

“I’ll tell him.” Carl said. 

You opened up the driver’s side door before turning to Carl and pressing a kiss to his lips once again. “I’ll see you later,” you purred. 

“Alright, have a safe drive (Y/N).” 

“Always do.” 

With that, you got into the car, turning it on. You maneuvered it the same way that you always did before you drove out of the community, a smile plastered on your face, lips still tingling from the aftershock of the kiss that you and your lover shared. 


	7. Eureka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rain turned into a horrible storm that forced you to stay inside of the hospital. Taking advantage of the situation, you decided to focus on the cure for a while. Will you get further in your progress or are you just going to take a step back?

The surgical mask rested gently on your nose, covering the lower half of your face. The scent from the flesh of the undead wafted through the laboratory, but it didn’t bother you as much as it had in the earlier days of the apocalypse. You were quite used to it by now, having to work with it every day for the past year or so.

The weather had turned from bad to worse. What started off as a distant look of angry clouds turned into the hammering of rain against the windows of the hospital, thunder echoing, shaking the building, and lightning flashing past the trees. The storm was harsher than you predicted and it seemed as if it wasn’t going to let up any time soon. So, as the rain pounded harder against the glass, light outside flashed brighter, and drums sounded louder within the sky, you stuck yourself in your laboratory in order to further your research on the cure that you had put on hold in order to help the Alexandrians with their weaponry and fortification. 

Presented in front of you, on the table, was a small vile of a mixture of many different chemicals, a notebook filled with calculations, a microscope with a petri dish sitting on the examination table, a handheld timer, and left over glass containers that were wet with ingredients that you have used before. The surgical mask was on your face and the large goggles were placed over your eyes. Your hair, you made sure, was out of your face, hands covered in heavy duty gloves, and your body was covered from head to toe to not expose skin and risk yourself getting hurt or infected. 

At that moment, you had set the timer for thirty minutes in order to record the process of the test cure that you had put in the petri dish. It had been twenty minutes. Ten to go. You were calculating different cure mixtures just in case the one that was currently active. You boxed in the calculations that were in effect and wrote around it. Your mind was soaring, running through the hundreds of thousands of mixtures that were possible with the limited amount of ingredients that you have in your possession. 

Your mind was so engulfed with the arithmetic estimations that you almost didn’t hear the faded sound of the timer going off, signalling the end of the testing session. You pressed the button on the timer in order to stop it from beeping. Afterwards, you moved over to the microscope. You grabbed the sides of the goggles and let them rest on the top of your head. Pulling the machine closer, you leaned forward in your chair, moving to the very edge of your seat, back straight. You leaned forward, pressing your eyes against the ocular, keeping both eyes open. 

What you saw when you gazed into the petri dish was a sight that you never believed you would see. 

Inside of the small dish was the remains of the skin cell that you had paired with the disease. However, the skin was not damaged. Not anymore, anyway. When you last placed the disease within the dish with the skin cell, you saw the color change from bright to bland, engulfing it in darkness, but after you placed your developed test cure within the dish and waited for thirty minutes for it to try and take effect, the skin was back. Back to the original color that it was when you first placed it on the dish. Your brows raised and you slowly lifted your head up.

“No way,” a whisper fell from your lips. You grabbed the petri dish and set it aside, rushing to the other end of the room to grab another dish from the large cabinet. You then ran back to the table and grabbed the scalpel that was located on a small metal table to the right. You set the dish down on the table and took off one of your gloves, revealing your nondominant hand. You moved the microscope back over towards you and placed your index finger underneath the ocular onto the stage. You kept your eyes open and looked inside. You could see small, miniscule cuts that you had made on your skin before, taking samples many different instances, but making sure to leave your skin healthy looking to the naked eye. 

Keeping a steady hand, you moved the knife towards the finger and inhaled before you watched the blade slowly slice through the top layer of skin. To you, it felt like a small sting, as if you were getting stung by a bee. It didn’t hurt that bad, but it wasn’t entirely painless. Carefully, without cutting off the piece of skin all the way, you reached over to the metal table, replacing the scalpel with a pair of tweezers. Slowly, you grabbed the skin with the tweezers and eased it off of your finger. Carefully, you moved your steady hand to the clean petri dish, placing the skin particle into the clear dish. Afterwards, you set the tweezers on the side, on the same metal table that it had previously been, and gingerly took the dish into your grasp and moved it over to the microscope. You placed it onto the stage and switched on the light on the side of the device. 

Gazing into the eyepiece lens, you were able to identify the single cell that rested at the bottom of the dish. Without the expression on your face shifting, you sauntered over to the examination table that rested in the middle of the room, the same table that you patched Rick up on, and the same table that Sharon’s head sat in a small, plastic tub. Grasping the sheet that was covering the walker head, you revealed the mutilated scalp, skin cut off here and there. Sharon’s milky white eyes wandered around the room, mouth moving up and down, hoarse growls escaping from her throat. You grabbed her jaw and pressed the bottom of your palm against her nose, spreading her mouth open, restraining her from her attempts to bite you. Keeping your hands on her bottom jaw to keep her mouth wide open, you reached into her mouth with your gloved hand and grasped onto one of the rotting teeth that lined the top of her mouth. It didn’t take much effort for you to press a thumb and an index finger against the bone and pull it out of the gummy, black bed. 

Afterwards, you pulled away from her and Sharon began to growl loudly, remaining teeth opening and closing rapidly, wanting to taste the blood and skin and muscle, but it was denied as you draped the sheet back over her head. Ignoring the sounds that were coming from the monster underneath the cover, you walked back over to the table with all of the work on it and studied the tooth, shifting it in your hand as you did so. Reaching over to the metal table, you grabbed the scalpel and began to scrape off the particles that were on the tooth, the sound of the sharp object rubbing against the bone echoing in your ears, sending shivers running down your spine. After you got as much of the infectious material off of the teeth, you set the tooth down and glanced into the lens of the microscope. With a steady hand, you placed the gunk that was on the scalpel into the dish, making sure that it came in contact with the skin cell. Once you were finished, you set the timer for ten minutes. After ten minutes, you would check and see the progress of the transformation of the cell. 

Walking over to the sink that was located in the far side of the room, you washed off the scalpel, covering it with disinfectant, making sure that there was nothing left from the walker tooth on the blade. When you finished cleaning and disinfecting it, you walked back to the study table and glanced at the timer. Seven more minutes. A curse fell from your lips as you placed the scalpel back in its designated spot. 

The next seven minutes were the longest seven minutes of your life and you knew that the thirty minutes that were yet to come was going to consist of nothing but pacing and anxiously rubbing your hands together in an attempt to keep yourself busy. You figured that you might go ahead and try to get something else done -  _ what else  _ is _ there to get done - _ or possibly keep yourself occupied with a book or a board game that would normally consist of two or more participants. The sound of the timer going off, however, was the most beautiful sound that you have ever heard from any type of device during and before the outbreak. A smile appeared on your face as you turned off the timer, grabbed the solution that you were confident was the cure to the disease. You took some and placed it within the petri dish along with the decomposed skin cell. You gazed through the microscope for a second before turning back to the timer, picking it up and setting a thirty minute time limit before you would check the dish, hoping that the first test wasn’t just another flaw in the work. 

After setting the timer down on the table, you backed up, heart racing and practically jumping up into your throat with utter excitement and anticipation. You had thirty minutes to kill - twenty-nine minutes and fifty-seven seconds - and you had to fill your mind with something other than the cure or else you were going to have a stroke. Glancing around, trying to focus on something else, a book came into your peripheral vision. You took the goggles off of your head and walked over to the book, studying the title. It was a medical dictionary. It was rather large and no doubt filled with all of the simplistic and elaborate terms that you knew and had yet to learn. A sigh escaped through your parted lips still covered by the surgical mask. You pulled up a chair and sat down next to the table the book once called home. You bent forward, not really caring about your posture and focusing on the text that you were opening. Once you saw the first word, you began to read aloud. 

“Alpha. Noun. Definition: the first letter in the Greek alphabet. Adjective. Definition:  of or relating to one of two or more closely related chemical substances  the  _ alpha _ chain of hemoglobin.” You read. “Abacavir. Noun. Definition: an antiviral drug taken orally in the form of its sulfate in combination with other antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV infection. Abacterial. Adjective….” 

 

* * *

  
  


“Tenon’s Space. Noun. Definition:  a space between Tenon's capsule and the sclerotic coat of the eye that is traversed by strands of reticular tissue and by the optic nerve and ocular muscles. Tenoplasty. Noun. Definition: plastic surgery that is performed on a tendon.” A yawn escaped from your lips as you paused. You had gotten pretty far in the dictionary by then, not even checking to see how much longer it would be once. You had kept your attention towards the hundreds of terms that you had read about in the book, almost forgetting about the task at hand. 

However, it was when the timer finally rang throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and hitting your eardrums, that your head shot up rapidly, eyes wide, as awake as ever. You slammed the book shut and turned your attention back to the mission. To the cure. You turned away from the book and grabbed the goggles, placing them back onto your head and walking over to the timer, shutting it off to eliminate the noise that emitted from it. After the timer stopped, you turned to the microscope, immediately looking inside of the eyepiece lens, getting ready to face the facts. 

You froze when you saw the results. In front of you, inside the petri dish, was a perfectly restored sliver of skin. Your entire body went numb as a scream began to form in your throat. You backed up slowly, eyes wide, and mouth practically dropped to the floor. Your hands shook violently as you brought them up to your face, pressing them against your cheeks. You backed up so far that your legs bumped into the examination table that rested behind you. Jerking so the side, you listened to the moans and groans from Sharon get louder from underneath the cloth. The breath that came out of your lungs was heavy and choppy. Ever so slowly, the emotion began to build inside of your chest until it began to burst and unravel. A smile replaced the look of shock on your lips and your eyes lit up with elation. 

A scream erupted from your chest as you began to jump up and down on the floor like a child who received the toy that they had been longing for for Christmas. The joy was practically exploding inside of you. Finally, after months and months of testing, after countless nights of being in that lab doing nothing but mixing ingredients together, you have finally found the most important thing to the modern world. Not food, that is not  _ as _ important anymore. Not shelter, they could still do without. Not weapons, they are definitely not near the priority anymore. From now on, the biggest importance in the entire world will be having a vile of the the cure with them at all times. 

A clap of thunder rumbled the building. You reached up and took off the goggles that covered your face as well as the surgical mask, tossing both of them onto the examination table. Running over to to the door, you began to strip all of the medical necessities from your body, tossing the coat on the floor and throwing the rubber gloves into the trash. Afterwards, you ran out of the room, slamming the door shut and making your way down the hallway and up the stairs. It didn’t take long before you got to the top floor, body working on nothing but the adrenaline that was coursing through your veins. You ran down the hallway and out of the door you want, crashing into the pouring rain, flashing lightning, and pounding thunder. The rain felt like a small hint of relief as the water attached to your hair and ran down the features of your face. 

It was as if the clouds had opened up, mentally anyway. As if you had finally discovered, not only the cure for what had destroyed the world in a matter months, but finally discovered what you were made to do with your life. You discovered that you weren’t just cursed with the power of knowledge, forced to do what others deemed acceptable from a person with your level of IQ. You had a purpose in your life, even if it meant spending hours in solitary confinement, locking yourself in a room that was filled with nothing but discoveries: science. The purpose of a life that you thought was useless was to save the world. Was to save those who deserved to be saved. To stop all of the madness and prevent it from spreading. Finally, after years of being told what to you, you realized what it meant to be you. 


	8. What the Hell Happened?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the storms had passed, you had decided to go to Alexandria in order to spread the news of your breakthrough to Carl. However, when Carl comes back, he isn't the same.

The storms had cleared up a week after they first arrived, leaving the Earth wet, the leftover smell of rain still floating in the air. One of the perks of living down south was the aftermath of the rainfall, which left behind cool winds and cloudy skies. The day after the storms left, you made arrangements to go see Carl and the rest of the Alexandrians in the hopes of telling them your groundbreaking discoveries. Over the past couple of days, you had experimented more with the drug, making dosage after dosage in case of an emergency. You had not tested it on any actual walkers yet, but you could only figure that the mixture would work on the whole human body and not just a small portion. At least you hoped that was the case.

You got into your SUV at noon that day, waiting until the world was nearing its brightest before hitting the road. The visit was merely informational. You didn’t have any supplies to give them. You just wanted to see them and tell them about what you uncovered. You got into the driver’s seat, buckled up, and then turned on the car. Checking the gas gauge, you saw that the tank was half empty and determined that you would need to fill her up by the end of the week. You would worry about that later, though. You just wanted to focus on getting to Alexandria to tell them the great news. 

You pulled out of the parking spot, turned the car, and made your way down the parking garage until you reached the gate. You got out of the car, walked to the codepad, typed in the number, and then got back to the car as the gate began to automatically open up. Once it was wide enough to fit your car through, you drove out onto the road, watching the gate close behind you, and made your way towards Alexandria. That day, you left your windows down, the wind cool enough to send chills down your spine. The air coursed through your hair, allowing it to ripple on top of your head. The wind mixed with the scent of leftover rain allowed for a relaxing drive from your camp to Alexandria, a smile on your face as you kept your eye on the road. 

Your car pulled up the the gates of Alexandria. Standing watch was a twenty-seven-year-old community college student named Amanda. You didn’t have much interaction with her, but you have had enough to determine that she was a kind girl in general, but could be one helluva bitch when she needed to be. She was someone you assumed you could get along with. You stopped near the gate, stuck your head out the window and called towards Amanda. Amanda waved with her dominant hand before she turned around, calling towards someone on the ground to open the gate for you. It didn’t take long before the gate was opened by a man named Elvis - but everyone called him Christian. He was a thirty-five-year-old college dropout who knew how to handle himself well in many different scenarios outside of the gates. There were many people that lived within the community who knew what to do in order to survive. Everyone was strong in their own way and they helped Alexandria however they could. 

You drove into the gate and watched as it closed behind you. You parked your car where you normally did, taking the keys out and placing them into your pocket. You got out of your car, closing the door behind you. You walked up to Elvis and cocked your head to the side. “Hey, do you know where Carl is?” You asked. 

Elvis hummed and shook his head. ‘No,” he said to you. “I actually haven’t seen him around for a while.” 

You slowly frowned. “Oh...okay. What about Rick?” 

“He’s out.” 

“Michonne?” 

“She’s out too.” 

“Daryl?” 

“Out.” 

“ _ Tara _ !?” 

“She’s out too.” 

You let a sigh fall from your lips. You placed your hands on your hips. “Can you please tell me where Judith is, then? Don’t tell me that  _ she _ went out too.” 

Elvis rolled his eyes and shook his head. “No, she didn’t. Gina is watching after her in Rick’s house. When any one of those people get here, then I will go ahead and send them over your way.” 

“Thank you, Elvis.” 

“Please, just call me Christian.” 

“My bad. Thank you, Christian.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

With that, you turned and made your way towards the Grimes residence. As you wandered through Alexandria, you passed by other people who either waved or nodded at you. You did the same to them. It didn’t take long to reach the house. You walked up the porch and to the door. You knocked on it three times with your knuckles. Soon, the door opened up, revealing Gina, a middle-aged woman who used to own a bar in the upper part of Georgia. She had a small smile on her face as she looked at you. 

“Well, hello there, (Y/N).” She said. “If you’re looking for the Grimes family, then they aren’t here.” 

“I know, Christian told me. He said I can go ahead and wait in here with you and Judith until one of them comes back.” 

“Sure! I would love to have somebody to talk to. Judith isn’t really that much of a chatterbox.” She said with a small chuckle. 

“Thank you,” you said. 

Gina stepped to the side and gestured inside the house. You stepped past her and entered. In the living room, Judith sat on the floor, playing with a couple of wooden blocks and toy cars. Judith turned and glanced at you. Her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her small lips. “Hi!” She said, waving at you. 

You waved back, smiling lightly. “Hi, Judith.” You said as you sat down on the floor right next to her. Judith grunted crawled over to you. She wrapped her arms around your stomach and you chuckled lightly. You hugged her back and kissed her on the top of the head. “How are you doing, today?” 

Judith pulled away from you, immediately placing her hand inside of her mouth, nibbling on it. “Good,” she mumbled before she turned back to her toys, getting settled on her tush. 

“That’s good.” You said as you rubbed her back and watched her begin to play with her toys with one hand once again. 

Gina closed the front door and walked over to the couch, sitting down on it. She crossed her legs. “So, darling, how are you doing?” She asked you. 

“I’m doing well. It sucked being stuck in the hospital for a week because of the storms. I’m just glad that they passed by without getting strong enough to deal some damage. It was just enough to provide some entertainment as well as some good moisture for the Earth.” 

“Oh, I agree,” Gina smiled and rubbed her hands together. “I absolutely love the rain. With the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the rain, I can just fall asleep like a baby. Oh, darling, would you like something to drink?’ 

“No, I’m okay.” 

“Alright, well, I’m going to get myself some water.” She smiled and stood up, walking towards the kitchen. 

You raised your brows and watched as she left before you leaned against the couch, looking down at Judith. You had no idea where anyone was. You just hoped that they were safe and that they would come back home as quick as they possibly could. Until then, though, you would wait in the house with Judith and Gina until one of the individuals returned. 

  
  
  


You had to admit that the chat you had with Gina wasn’t the most torturous conversation you ever had. You  _ have _ had worse, but it wasn’t exactly the most entertaining talk that you have ever had either. You had to give that award to the conversations that you have had with Carl. There were so many times when the two of you spent hours on end in the middle of the night chatting about the funniest or the strangest topics possible. You missed those chats. Because of the storm, it was difficult for the two of you to be able to talk to one another. That day would be the first in a week that you would be able to talk to Carl. That was why you were completely ecstatic when you saw him walking down the road and towards the house. So excited that you rudely interrupted what Gina was saying in order to go over to the front door. You awaited happily, smile plastered on your lips and fingers slightly twitching right by your sides. 

Carl opened the door, head down, eye averted downwards, hair falling in front of his face. Immediately, you rushed up to him and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him close to you. Carl jumped. You were able to feel it underneath your gentle touch. He raised his head and glanced at you, brows raised. A smile slowly curled into the corner of his lips. He wrapped his arms around your chest. 

“I’ve missed you so much Carl,” you said in a gentle tone of voice as you pulled away from the hug and glanced into his beautiful eye. You leaned forward and pressed a small kiss against his lips. It was short and sweet. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reach you with the storms. It’s hard to use a walkie or drive under those conditions. I’m just so glad that the weather lifted so that I could come and see you.” 

Carl smiled. “I missed you too, (Y/N),” he said. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pressed a kiss to your lips. His kiss wasn’t like yours. He had kept his lips against yours longer and showed more passion with his kiss. This allowed a blush to spread across your cheeks as your eyes fluttered shut and you kissed him back. A minute into the kiss, Carl pulled back and opened up his eye, looking into your red face. “Why don’t you wait down here while I go upstairs and take a shower?” 

You opened up your eyes and glanced up at him, smiling. “Okay,” you said. “Then you need to tell me  _ where _ you were and  _ why _ you kept me waiting for your skinny butt.” 

Carl chuckled warmly, chest rumbling as he did so. “I will,” he told you. “Just go back over and talk to Gina-” 

“I think she prefers to be the one to do all of the talking.” 

Carl rolled his eye and shook his head. “Then go back over to Gina and  _ listen _ to her.” 

You nodded. “Okay,” you said. ‘Just be quick on the shower. I really want to hang out with you.” 

“Alright. I will.” He told you as he pulled away from you, smile still plastered on his face as he turned and made his way towards the staircase. 

You folded your hands directly in front of your body and blushed brightly. You couldn’t help but keep the thoughts running through your mind that Carl was yours. You could not believe that he was yours, even though the two of you have been romantically seeing one another for just a little over two weeks. He was the sweetest person that you have ever met in the entire world and he belonged to you. You loved the relationship that the two of you had so much that you didn’t want it to end. You could only hope that the two of you would stay together for months - maybe even years if you were lucky - on end. 

As soon as Carl vanished from sight, footsteps echoing as he walked up the stairs, you pulled your hands apart and sighed. You brushed your hands down your shirt to straighten it out after it got wrinkled from the hug. However, you froze when your hand touched something wet. Looking down, you pulled your hand away from your clothes, revealing a lopsided circular shaped blood stain. You frowned. It wasn’t yours and it wasn’t there the entire time you were talking to Gina otherwise she would have pointed it out. The only conclusion that you could come up with is that it belonged to Carl. You raised your head and looked up the stairs before you hurried up them, following after your boyfriend. 

“Hey, Carl!” You called out after him as soon as you reached the second floor. 

Carl raised his brows and turned to you. It seemed you had caught him just as he was getting ready to go into his room - most likely to get clothes for the upcoming shower. As his body turned towards you, it was then that you were able to see the source of the blood. On the left side of his body, there was a stain painted a dark red color. The blood had stopped spreading, but stain was still rather prominent. You frowned deeply. 

“Yeah?” He asked and furrowed his brows. 

You walked over to him, slowing down as soon as you got closer to him. You looked into his eye and then looked down at his side. “You’re hurt.” You said. 

Carl furrowed his brows and then glanced down at his left side. He raised his brows and his jaw clenched. He looked back up at you. “I just killed a walker.” He said as he opened up his bedroom door and walked inside. You followed him, standing in the doorway, watching as he walked over to his dresser and gathered the day clothes that he would be changing into one he was fresh out of the shower. 

You shook your head. “No,” you told him matter-of-factly. “Killing a walker does not result in blood pooling in a single location. No matter the scenario, that never happens. Either the blood splatters or it drips in a couple of places. You are injured. Let me take a look at it.” 

“No,” Carl was rather rapid to respond, head shooting up as he continued to grab his clothes. “I told you that I killed a walker. Why don’t you believe me?” 

“Because killing a walker would not look like that, Carl,” 

Carl closed the top drawer of his dresser as he walked to the door. You moved out of the way so that he was able to go down the hall to the bathroom. You closed his door and followed after him. 

“If you don’t clean it, then it will get infected and someone can  _ die _ from that!” 

“Just let me take a shower, (Y/N). I just wanna take a shower.” 

“Carl-” 

“I just wanna shower!” He exclaimed as he turned and looked back at you with a hard gaze. He was standing in the entryway to the bathroom, one hand on the doorway while the opposite arm was holding his clothes. 

You slowly stopped and frowned. You opened your mouth, trying to say something after the outburst, but nothing came out of your mouth. Carl shook his head and turned back to the room, walking in and closing the white door behind him. The door clicked, signaling that it had been locked. Your shoulders slumped and you let out a sigh. 

You  _ knew _ that Carl was injured. Everything pointed right to him being injured. There was no way that the blood stain on his shirt was caused by him attacking a walker. Why was he trying to hide the wound that he got when he was out, especially since he knew that you were able to patch him up no matter how bad it was - you  _ did  _ stitch up his father, after all. Either way, no matter Carl’s reason for trying to hide the wound, you were worried about him. You wanted to make sure that he was alright. You couldn’t go into the bathroom, though. The door was locked. Not only that, but Carl was most likely in the nude. Just the thought made a blush appear on your face. You tried to shake the image of your nude boyfriend from your worried mind. Instead of going down the stairs, you decided to wait for him. You walked over to the side of the door, pressed your back against the wall, and slid down it until you were sitting on the floor. You crossed your legs in front of you, criss-cross-applesauce, and placed your hands into your lap. You would wait for Carl to get out of the shower before you talked to him about it again. 

  
  
  


You fiddled with your fingers the entire time he was in the shower. Steam seeped out of the opening between the floor and the door before immediately disappearing into the air. About ten minutes after he went in there, the water had stopped and the steam halted. Your ears perked up as you heard the shuffling in the room. Still the door did not open. And, again, you waited. Five minutes after that, the door open. You perked your head up and quickly stood up. Carl had changed into a clean, white tee and a plaid shirt as well as a pair of jeans. 

“Did you clean it?” You asked with a frantic tone, brushing your hand down your shirt and jeans in order to straighten them out. 

Carl had started to make his way towards his bedroom. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and let out a sigh once you asked him the question. He turned and looked at you. “(Y/N), I told you that I wasn’t hurt. That it was just blood from the walker that I killed. Will you quit riding me about it?” 

“No, I won’t because I just don’t believe you, Carl. If it was really just blood from the walker that you killed, then you would have absolutely no problem with be seeing where it was.” You raised your brows and crossed your arms in front of your chest. 

Carl hesitated, staring at you straight in the eye. He looked down and shook his head. “No,” he said before turning around, moving towards his door. 

“Why not?” You asked, following after him. 

“Because I don’t want to. I don’t  _ have _ to, (Y/N).” He said, voice getting stronger and angrier with each word that he spoke. 

“Yes, you do! If you are lying to me, which I believe that you  _ are _ , then I need to examine it and clean it out. I just want to make sure that you are alright!” 

“Well, just, stop! Okay? Now, just, leave me alone.” 

Carl quickly entered his room, grabbed the doorknob, and slammed the door shut. Again, you were able to hear the lock click. Carl had locked himself in the room. Something was wrong. Carl would never act like this. Had someone died? Had he gotten into a fight? Had he killed someone? You wanted to know what was wrong. It was all because you were completely worried about him and his well-being. You pressed your body slowly against the door, pressing your ear against it. 

“Carl?” You called out to him in a small, timid voice. “Carl, can you please open up the door? I haven’t...we haven’t seen one another in a week. We haven’t even talked to each other in a week. I miss you. Can we please hang out?” 

There was no response. 

“Carl?” She whispered. 

Again, after a while, there was no response. 

A sigh fell from your lips as you, again, contemplated on whether or not to go downstairs. However, you didn’t want to leave Carl. You wanted to stay as close to him as you possibly could. So you moved over to the side and sat down beside the door, just like you had when you were waiting on him to get out of the shower. You were in the same position that you had been in before: criss-cross-applesauce on the floor with your hands folded in your lap. You planned on staying in that exact same position until Carl either came out of the room or unlock the door so that she was able to go in. 

  
  
  


Time was something that seemed to drag on. For what seemed like hours, you were shifting from side to side, listening to what is on the other side of the door and trying to get Carl’s attention. It was as if Carl wasn’t even in the room anymore. It was silent for most of the time with small sounds of shuffling appearing from the room. What seemed like hours was actually fifteen minutes. What seemed like two hours later was merely five minutes later. You could not wait any longer for him to come out of the room. You desperately wanted him to come out of the room. 

You were sat against the wall, back straight and hands folded in your lap. You twiddled your thumbs and bit your lip continuously. You wanted to spend time with Carl. That was the reason why you went to Alexandria that day, not to sit outside of a room like a dog, waiting for Carl to emerge from the room. You felt as if this wasn’t exactly the correct option to take. You should have gone downstairs with Gina and looked after Judith instead of wasting your time waiting for someone who probably won’t emerge from their bedroom until it was time to eat dinner. By then, you would be on your way home and getting ready to eat your own dinner and snuggle into your bed. You wanted to hang out with your boyfriend before then. You were still curious as to why he was even in the bad mood and why he refused to show you the spot on his chest that was located directly underneath the blood stain that had been on his shirt. For being a genius, you still weren’t able to figure it out. 

The lock on the door clicked, causing your ears to perk up and glance at the wall quickly. You stood up from your spot and brushed your clothes once again. Carl excited the room, looking at you, raising his brows before he furrowed them. He closed the door. 

“How long have you been sitting there?” He asked you, cocking his head to the side. 

A blush spread across your face as you looked down at the ground. “Um…” you trailed. “Ever since you walked into the room.” 

Carl sighed and shook his head. “(Y/N),” he said softly. “I am so sorry that I got all snappy and angry at you. You didn’t do anything. You were just looking out for me and I love that, but I’m fine, I promise.” He gave you a small smile of reassurance.

You inhaled, still not fully believing that he was alright, but letting it drop for the sake of you two not arguing. You have a small nod and smiled lightly. ‘Okay,” you said and smiled. 

“I just…” he paused. “I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Do you want to go outside to the belltower like we did when we first kissed? It gives us time to be alone.” 

A smile slowly made its way onto your lips and your slowly nodded. “Yeah,” you said. “I would love to.” 

Carl smiled and reached over, grasping your hand into his, the warmth radiating off of his body and onto yours. Shivers ran down your spine as you moved closer to him, nuzzling your shoulder close to his. With a smile plastered on his lips, the two of you made your way down the hallway and back down the stairs. Gina still sat on the couch, watching as Judith played and listening to a small cassette track that she had put into the sound system that sat on a shelf near the window. Carl glanced at Gina. 

“Hey, Gina, (Y/N) and I are going to go out for a little bit, can you please look after Judith for a little while longer?” He asked. 

Gina turned her head so that her ear was facing towards the two of you. She raised her brows, smiled and nodded. “Oh yeah! Sure! I have no problem watching the little ray of sunshine! She is just the most adorable child I have ever seen in my entire life. You know, before the world was filled with the walking dead, I used to know this one woman, named Harrietta, who used to work at a daycare. She was the sweetest person in the whole wide world. Well, her daughter-” 

“We gotta go, Gina! You can tell me the story later!” Carl said with a semi frantic tone as he practically dragged you towards the door. He opened the door, exposing you to the cool air once again before he closed the front door. 

“That was mean!” You said in a teasing manner, a smile on your face as the two of you began to walk down the roadway towards the church. 

“I’m sorry! I just couldn’t stand there and let her tell one of her hour long stories that have no plot whatsoever. It’s just her rambling on and on about how cute she thought something was or how nice someone was to her for three seconds.” 

“Exactly! I had to sit here and wait for you over an hour and listen to her ramble on and on and on and I swear to God I thought my head was going to explode. Where were you!?” 

“I was just out.” 

“On a supply run?’ 

“No, just on a walk.” 

“An hour long walk? Was someone with you?” 

“No, but (Y/N), I was fine.” 

“You need to bring someone with you when you go outside of the gates, Carl! Statistically, you are more likely to get hurt and/or  _ killed _ when you go outside into a world full of walkers by yourself.” 

Carl rolled his eye. “Stop, (Y/N). I know that.” 

“I just worry about you, you know that.” You said. 

Carl glanced at you as you slowed down near the entrance of the church. “I know you worry, (Y/N). I worry about you too every day that you’re not with me.” 

A blush appeared on your cheeks as you smiled. You licked your lips and giggled, looking down. This made Carl smile, cocking his head to the side before he gestured to the wooden doors that lead into the Church. 

“Come on,” he said. 

You could only nod in response as he turned back around, back facing you as he opened the door. He walked in first, having you follow in second. The church, at that time, was empty, colored lights hitting the red carpet that covered the ground from the small amount of light that shone through the clouds in the sky. It was tranquil and stunning. As you walked through, you looked at the greens, reds, blues, and yellows that decorated the floor from the stained glass windows. Carl turned you down the hallway and made your way down towards the door that led to the belltower. He walked in first, but stood off to the side as he gestured towards the ladder. He waited as you climbed up the ladder and opened the hatch to the bell tower. Once he saw you disappear, he began to climb up the ladder. He climbed through the small door and got next to you. He closed the door, making sure that it was completely closed before he scooted over, getting comfortable. 

The scene in front of you was rather exquisite. The way that the gray clouds were sitting low in the sky allowed for the green leaves on the miles of trees to stand out among everything else that was outside of the Alexandrian fence. You couldn’t help but stare in adoration as you waited for Carl to come into the tower and close the hatch behind him. Once he stopped all of his movement, you turned and glanced at him, a small smile playing on your lips. 

“I think this view is more beautiful than the first time we came up here.” You said. 

“Really?” He questioned, raising a brow. “Even though the sun’s not out?” 

“ _ Especially  _ since the sun's not out!” You exclaimed as you moved closer to him. You shifted so that you were leaning against him, head on his shoulder. You pointed out at the scene in front of you. “Do you see the way that the green is highlighted because of the gray clouds in the background. If it was a bright blue color, then it wouldn’t really balance out correctly. The bright blue would stand out and not have the attention turned towards the trees. There would be too much for the eye to see. However, with a dull, faded color like gray, the green from the leaves is able to stand out and catch the eye of whoever is looking at the sky.” 

Carl cocked his head to the side, humming as he took in the words that you spoke. He slowly nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said. “I see what you’re saying. The leaves on the trees look a little darker without the sun.” 

“Exactly! Isn’t it awesome?” 

Carl smiled and looked down at you. “It is. Not as awesome as you, but still pretty awesome.” 

You looked over at Carl and smiled. “Aw, thank you. That’s really sweet.” You said. 

“So are you.” 

You blushed deeply and looked away. Carl reached over, placing his index finger underneath your chin and thumb right on top of it. He turned your head gently so that your eyes were gazing into his working one. Slowly, his eye closed and he leaned towards you, tilting his head to the side before his lips came in contact with yours. It was soft, passionate, and loving. Your eyes closed as well as you took in the kiss that he gave you, tiling your head to the side as well in order to deepen the kiss. Carl’s hand moved so that he was cupping your cheek, calloused hands caressing your skin gently. It sent shivers down your spine. 

Slowly, Carl pulled his lips away from yours, opening his eye and looking at you in a sweet manner. You opened your eyes as well, just as slow, and studied his facial features. He had an adorable smile that was on his face and it made you smile as well. 

“So,” you said. ‘Aside from...kissing...what do you want to do?” 

“Well, I was just hoping to sit up here with you, away from everyone else, and just…” he trailed and shrugged. “Stay up here, talk, maybe kiss a little. I wanna just hold you in my arms, though.” He said as he wrapped his longer arms around you. “Will you be able to stay very long today?” 

“Yeah, actually, I wanted to tell you something! You see, during the time that the storm was happening, I was researching and-” 

“(Y/N),” Carl interrupted you, rubbing your back. “I...I don’t want to talk about your research today. I want this to be about you and I.” 

You slowly frowned. “But-” 

“Please?” He asked and raised a brow, sending you a puppy dog look. 

You raised your brows and slowly nodded. “Okay,” you told him. 

“Thank you.” He said, the smile reappearing on his lips. 

You nodded and leaned your head against his shoulder, staring out into Alexandria. You figured that you would just need to tell him a little later. You figured that it could possibly be right before you had to leave so the two of you could spend as much time as possible with one another, thinking about noone but yourselves. 


End file.
